What a Wonderful World
by Porter-Fuzz1218
Summary: Both of my parents were KIA when i was 8 years old. After moving around from foster home to foster home after my grandma died, i was rescued by Leland Bishop, aka Silas. He raised me for nine and a half years and moved me to a small town in Nevada. The more i learn about him, the more that i become afraid on what he has planned. Soon one thing led to another DON'T OWN TRANSFORMERS
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_August 13__th__, 2005_

_Location: Denver, CO_

_Time: 19:00 Local Time_

The setting sun and the sound of cars running out of and into the city illuminated the backdrop of the mountains on the city. A black suburban with the American star on it drove into the city and down towards 4850 South Saratoga Street. They took a left after three stoplights and came to a house that had two stories and red siding. One of the two men in the back seat let out a depressed sigh and shook his head. "I'm not sure that I want to do this one, Bill." he said.

The other man, an African American with short black curly hair replied, "I'm sorry David, but the kid and his grandma need to know about what happened in Iraq."

"Really, Fowler," David said. "The kid's only eight years old and the grandmother, well, she's sick and his only surviving relative."

William Fowler sighed and was about to say something but decided against it. He only shook his head and said, "Get out of the car and march up to that door, we need to inform the child of his parents' demise and his grandmother of her son's death."

"If you say so." David said, still unwilling to do so.

"Now."

With a sigh, David got out of the car and William Fowler followed suit. The two walked up to the door and knocked on it. David smoothed out his suit and William did the same. They heard the sound of bare feet running towards the door and then the door opened.

An eight-year-old kid looked up at the two adults in pleasant surprise. "Hi," the kid said cheerfully. "Wanna come in and play?"

"Actually, we were wondering if your grandmother was around," William said. "We'd like to talk with her."

"Sure thing," the kid said. He turned away from the door and yelled, "Grandma, there are two men in suits here to see you." The young kid turned back to the door and said, "My name is…"

"Beau! Get away from the door! You're letting all of the cold inside!" a gentle, yet firm, voice called. A woman in her early sixties approached the door and her face turned pale immediately when she saw the two men in the doorway. "Please, no," she whispered. "God don't let this be true!"

"Sandra Schwarz?" David asked.

"Yes…" the woman gasped, tears gathering in her eyes.

"We are sorry to inform you, but your son, Drew Schwarz was killed in action and so was his wife, Debra Schwarz." David said sadly.

"Grandma, what does that mean?" Beau asked.

"It means that your parents are in a better place now, Beau." Sandra Schwarz replied with tears leaking out of her eyes.

"If there is anything that we can do for you…" David started.

"You can get off of my porch and leave me to grieve for my son and daughter in law!" Sandra gasped.

"Sorry, ma'am," David apologized bowing his head. "I'm so sorry."

William Fowler looked down and saw the dawning and understanding on the little kid's face that his parents were never going to come home to see him again. Tears flowed as if a floodgate opened and Fowler felt immense sadness for this family. "It's time to go, David." he said.

David nodded and gave his condolences once more before Fowler led him away. The two got into the car and drove away. "I'm starting to think that I'm going to hate this job." David muttered.

"It doesn't get any better, this is my tenth one and I still haven't gotten used to it." Fowler said sadly.

"Yeah, but you were also an Army Ranger for how long?" David asked.

"Not long enough." Fowler replied. "I would like to keep tabs on that boy though, I have this strange feeling that something is going to happen to him."

_April 7__th__ 2006_

_Location: Superior, WI_

_Time: 12:30 CT_

Driving along Tower Avenue and towards Belknap, Beau was looking out of the window of the Dodge Mini Van. His grandma had died five months ago and he had been forced to move around from foster home to foster home around the country. This was his third stop in the five months. Today as it happened was also Beau's birthday. "What is it Beau?" his foster mom asked.

"This is my first birthday without my parents and grandparents around." Beau replied.

"Don't you like it here?"

Beau shrugged in the back seat and kept looking out the window. "Give him some time," Beau's foster dad replied. "He's getting used to this sort of thing, and frankly so are we."

Beau's foster dad worked for the shipping industry and was rarely home, leaving only Beau and his foster mother around for weeks at a time. This was the longest tenure that Beau had received from any foster family. They usually couldn't put up with his anger and depression. Beau's foster mother ran her own day care center out of their three-story house and Beau usually just read his books in his room.

After they got to the house on Elm Avenue, Beau got out and went right to his room like he always did and locked himself away in there. He was right above the living room and could hear everything that was said down below him.

"I can't take this anymore," his foster mom said. "He's been like this for two months and from what I've heard he hasn't gotten any better, even with counseling!"

"Maybe your brother, Leland will take him."

"I hope so, when is he coming?"

"Tonight."

Beau dreaded this, another move and he felt like he was a failure.

Beau came down for dinner and saw a man with a large frame and graying black hair. Across his face was what looked to be a fresh scar, but Beau didn't want to comment on it for fear of reprimands. "So, this is Beau." the man said in a deep voice.

"This is, will you take him and tutor him?" Beau's foster mom asked.

"Of course, sister," Leland said smiling at Beau. "Of course, I love children and don't have any of my own."

_Present Day_

My eyes snapped open and I groaned. I got up out of bed and cracked my neck, and then my back followed. I had been with Leland Bishop for nine and a half years now and he had gotten me into military shape. I had been able to forget most of my life previous to eight years old, those were the only memories I had and I always had them as dreams. I had no idea where I was currently, most likely still in the military type truck and I groaned. "I see you're awake." Leland said.

"Morning, sir." I greeted.

"Sleep well, Beau?" Leland asked, or as his followers called him: Silas.

"Yes, sir." I answered.

"Good, because we're in Nevada."

"I like warm weather, never been one for the cold." I said.

"Good, because since you're a part of MECH now," Silas said and I inwardly cringed. I had not originally wanted to become a part of this organization, but I decided eh, what the heck. "You'll be apart of a covert operation to infiltrate the inward makings of school."

"Shit." I swore. I had been homeschooled ever since Silas had started raising me. I was seventeen and headed to be what I guessed was a Senior in high school. "What city?" I asked.

"Not a city, town," Silas corrected me. "It's called Jasper. I have a house set up just for you with a motorcycle. You have a bank account there under your name and I don't want any trouble out of you there, understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." Silas said smiling. "One of these days I will bring you to MECH HQ and show you around. But for now, here's this."

Silas tossed me something and I caught it. I looked down at it and saw that it was a box. It read: Sheffield: Suron 3.5 IN Folding Knife

"What's this for?" I asked.

"In case you need to defend yourself in a sticky situation." Silas responded. The truck stopped and Silas opened the door and motioned for me to get out of the truck. I did and Silas said, "If you want to trade in that motorcycle, you can, I won't stop you."

"Understood." I replied.

The truck peeled away and I turned around to look at the house that I would be calling home. It was a single story house and white. I found the keys in my pocket and opened the door. Everything was already set up, just like Silas said it would be. I shook my head and headed towards what I would consider the master bedroom, or my room. The other bedroom was filled with weights and other things to keep me in shape during the school year. I went over to the bed and sat down on it and rubbed my temples. This was going to be odd living on my own.

**Authors Note:**

**Tell me what you think so far.**

**I could use some input on a femme name for an Autobot please.**

**Please R&R**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

My alarm went off and I groaned as I opened my eyes. Today I had to start school for the very first time, but on the brighter side it wouldn't be as rigorous as it would be with Leland. Every time that I would get a question wrong, I would have to do thirty push ups, fifty curl ups, and as many pull ups as I could do until my arms cramped and gave out. I learned quickly under that tutelage, but I was looking forward to the laid back attitude that the school systems were supposed to be known for. I made my way to the kitchen and made myself some coffee. I added a lot of cream, specifically half and half to it, and sugar to it. I couldn't take the taste of regular black coffee. My phone started to vibrate and I pulled it out, it was a Samsung Galaxy SIII. I answered it and at first there was no reply. "Hello? Anyone there?" I asked.

"Beau? Good, I wasn't sure if this was the right number or not." A voice answered me.

"Who is this?" I asked.

"I work for your adoptive father." The voice replied.

"That helps, a lot of people do." I said with a sigh.

"Well anyway, Silas wanted me to inform you that your schedule starts off with Ecology and Conservation first hour, then CIS Pre-Calculus, German Four, Advanced Placement Biology, a seminar class fifth hour, and something on British literature sixth hour."

"Don't schools typically have seven hours?" I asked.

"Silas got you a Senior release your seventh hour so you can go back to the house and train," the voice replied. "he wants you to keep a log of what you do and how many reps you do it."

I sighed, there went my plans for long rides with my motorcycle. "Very well, I'll keep him informed with my logs, are they online or something?"

"Yes and no."

"That's helpful."

"You log what you do online, but you print it off and you'll hand the log off to someone at the end of every week when they come to get it from you."

"He won't come and get it?"

"Your father is very busy."

"_Adoptive_ father," I emphasized. "My father was killed when I was eight."

There was a silence at the other end of the line and I looked at the time. I still had plenty of it. "I didn't know that, I'm sorry." The voice said.

"Eh, whatever, I need to go," I said. "I have school that I need to get ready for."

"Sorry to keep you."

The line went dead and I set my phone down and sipped at my mildly warm coffee. I shook my head going over my latest conversation with my adoptive father's grunts and added it to the pile of growing weirdness. I finished my coffee and placed the empty cup in the sink. I headed towards the bathroom and stopped. Before I showered, I needed to get clean clothes. I went back to my room and got a pair of jeans, a red T-shirt, a clean pair of boxers, and socks. I now headed towards the bathroom knowing that I didn't need anything else and closed the door out of habit. I stripped and turned on the shower. I waited for the water to warm up a little bit before I got in. I showered quickly and shut the shower off. I dried off and shaved with an electric razor and kept my goatee.

My once light, blonde, hair had now turned into black hair. My black goatee was neatly trimmed and I was in good shape. I put on my clean clothes and exited the bathroom. I threw my dirty clothes in a bin for dirty clothes and went back to my room. I applied deodorant and found my parents' dog tags. I put them on and went to the garage. My motorcycle was in there and I smiled at it. I had no idea where Silas got the money and how he got the motorcycle here, but I was impressed with it. It was a new 2013 Ducati 1199 Panigale R. It had 195-horse power from an 1198cc V-twin four-stroke Superquadro engine. This was one out of 250 that made it to the US, and I was the proud owner of it. I put on my leather jacket and black full faced helmet and opened the garage door. I mounted my bike and started it up. I grinned as I heard the motor purr. I backed out of the garage and once I was clear, I used the automatic door closer mounted on my bike to close the door. I backed up into the street and made my way to the school. I downshifted into first gear as I approached a stoplight. A car painted with flames stopped next to me, but I didn't pay attention to them trying to get my attention. I knew what they wanted, they wanted to race. I didn't want to, but I felt like I couldn't resist the urge. The light turned green and I pinned the throttle. I squeezed in the clutch and shifted up to match my engine speed to the road speed. I got into fifth gear and eighty mph before I started downshifting. I pulled into a parking space at the school and shut the engine off. I put the kickstand down and dismounted the bike.

Thirty seconds later, the car with the flames painted on it parked next to my parking space and a ginger with unkempt hair stepped out. I smirked behind my helmet when I saw his jacket also had flames on it. "I've never seen you before, you new here?" the kid asked.

I only nodded.

"I'm Vince." The kid said holding out his right hand. I extended mine and shook it. There was something about this kid that screamed, asshole.

I let go of his hand and he waited for me to introduce myself. I removed my helmet and looked at him with my green eyes. "Beau." I said holding my helmet in the crook of my right arm.

"Are you new here?"

"Just moved here."

"Ever raced before?"

"Nope, that was my first time." I answered truthfully."

Vince looked shocked. "Wow, but you kicked my ass."

"I have a motorcycle and you have a car," I said. "Use logic, a motorcycle should always win that race."

Vince shrugged and walked away with his hands in his pockets. I shook my head and popped my seat up. I grabbed my backpack and closed the seat again. I slung the backpack over my left shoulder and headed inside. I went to the main office and got my schedule. I then headed to first hour and couldn't wait for the school day to be over.

The school day crept slowly forward and I finally came to my sixth hour class. I was seated next to a kid with raven colored hair and I leaned back into my chair as the teacher talked about useless things that I doubt that I would ever use. "Mister Schwarz, can you answer the question?" the teacher asked.

I was startled for a moment and looked at Mrs. Kaufman sheepishly. "What was the question?" I asked.

The class chuckled and Mrs. Kaufman didn't look impressed. She was in her mid to late forties, short, and had graying brown hair. "I asked, who wrote the play _Doctor Faustus_?" she repeated.

I sat back in thought and racked my brains. "Christopher Marlowe, I think ma'am." I answered.

"Correct, now class, I believe as some scholars do that if he hadn't been killed that Marlowe would have been more successful than Shakespeare. But our first unit will be on the Dark Ages and our first book, if you will, will be _Beowulf_." Mrs. Kaufman said.

The bell rang and we all stood to get up but Mrs. Kaufman stopped me. "Not you, Schwarz." I cursed in my head and sat back down as the kids left. She approached me and sat in front of me.

"If this is about me zoning out, I'm sorry." I apologized.

"It isn't," she replied. "I'm here to tell you that I knew your mother. She grew up in Jasper."

"How do you know who I am?" I asked.

"Your face hasn't changed, Beau," Mrs. Kaufman answered. "Your mom would send me pictures of you when you were little. I was going to adopt you when you turned nine, but someone got to you before I could."

"Oh, um, this is weird." I said.

"Sorry, I didn't want to creep you out, I just wanted to let you know that if you ever need anything, I'll be there for you."

"Thank you." I said feeling grateful.

"You can go now."

I nodded and stood up. I grabbed my backpack up off of the floor and slung it over my shoulders. I walked down the stairs from the top of the school and exited the building. I unslung my backpack and unzipped it. I removed my helmet and put it on. I then proceeded to zip my backpack and I put it on again. I saw the raven-haired boy next to my motorcycle and I removed my helmet and approached him. "What are you doing?" I asked.

The kid jumped and turned around to face me. "Sorry, I was just admiring your motorcycle." The kid said.

"Okay," I said looking the kid up and down. "You're in eleventh grade, right?"

"Yeah, but I have a special privilege that some juniors have." The kid replied.

"So it's junior and senior release?" I asked.

"I guess so, yeah."

"Who are you again? I'm sorry I forgot your name."

"I'm Jack, Jack Darby."

"Beau, Beau Schwarz." I introduced myself extending my right hand. Jack shook my hand and I felt like I would like this kid. "I'll see ya around, Jack."

"Alright, see ya." Jack said as I put my helmet on and mounted my bike.

I started the engine once more and backed out of the parking spot. I rode towards my new house and when I pulled within distance, I hit the garage door opener/closer thing. I pulled into the garage and shut the engine off. I dismounted and cracked my neck before removing my helmet. I entered my house and went towards my room to get some workout clothes on. I put on some shorts and a tank top and headed towards the weight room and treadmill. I saw that the treadmill had an electrical timer on it. I guessed that's what the guy meant when they said electronically log what I did. I went to the treadmill first and started it. I turned the speed up to ten mph and started running. I ran for two miles on that thing and then slowed down to a jog at roughly four mph. I jogged for another four miles and then shut the machine off. I was sweating and breathing a bit heavier, but not too bad. I was in excellent shape due to the conditioning that Silas usually had me run. I went to the bench and put a forty-five pound weight on each side for my warm up set. The bar itself weighed 45 pounds, so I was doing 135 pounds. I did that ten times and then racked it. I got up and added a twenty-five to each side and did that ten times as well. I was going to do a 10x8x6 rep set, meaning that I would bench a weight ten times, rack it, add more weight, do that eight times and rack it, add more weight again, do that six times and rack it, and then I would be finished with benching. I removed the twenty-fives and added thirty-fives. I went back down and started to bench that. I got that eight times and sat up breathing heavily. I hated these types of sets, but they built up muscle and muscle endurance. I stood up and removed the thirty-fives and added another forty-five to each side. Here I knew I was going to have difficulty, 225 pounds six times. Not fun. I lay back down on the bench and gripped the bar. I started the last set and counted out the reps as I did them. When I reached six, I racked the bar and just lay there on the bench breathing heavily. I waited until my breathing slowed down a little bit, forcing myself to actually take slower breaths. I got up and got a notebook that I saw in the corner of the room on a shelf. I found a pen with it and I recorded what I did and the weights I lifted with it. I also wrote down what the date was, 9/5/13, and how long I ran on the treadmill and the distance I ran. I closed the notebook and set the pen down on top of it and went back to my room to grab some new clothes. I was about to take a shower when I heard screaming in the alley way behind my house. I frowned, that was a man screaming, or a teenage boy, I couldn't tell. All of a sudden I heard Jack yell, "I don't know her!"

That piqued my curiosity and I started to head towards the back door but my phone rang and I remembered that it was in my room. I headed back to my room and answered the phone, "Hello?"

"Hello, Beau, how was your first day of school?"

"Silas?" I asked in shock. He never, EVER, called me personally when we were separated.

"Of course, boy," Silas replied. "You didn't answer my question though."

"It went well, it was boring," I answered. "When are you going to come here again?"

"I don't think I personally will, but I will send for you when I need you."

"Need me to do what?" I asked curious.

"You'll find out in time."

"Understood, sir." I said automatically.

"You ran for six miles today, I'm impressed."

"Thank you."

"What else did you do?"

"I benched and that was about it, I was too tired to do anything else." I answered.

"What were the reps and how much?"

"Ten, eight, six, were the rep sets," I answered, "and I did one-eighty-five, two-oh-five, and two-twenty-five."

"Nicely done, do lower body tomorrow."

"Yes, sir."

"Well, you probably need to shower, so I'll let you go."

"I'll talk to you later then."

The phone line was dead.

"Figures." I muttered to myself.

_Five Hours Later:_

I was watching the nightly news and I was surprised to hear that there were a number of accidents on the highway outside of town. From what I had gathered, this was supposed to be a relatively quiet town. The police were still trying to piece together what happened, but the gist of it was that two cars were chasing a motorcycle and the ones that crashed were just collateral damage. _Odd,_ I thought. _Why would cars chase a motorcycle and for what purpose?_

I mentally shrugged off and went to bed. I felt like I needed the rest. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out.

The school day went by very fast the next day and I was surprised to see Jack walking to the giant oak tree in the front lawn of the school. I saw that Raf was there, an extremely intelligent kid that was in my Pre-Calc class. I had stayed in school today to finish the homework for tomorrow and was about to head home to get my work out in. I saw a custom muscle car with a black and yellow paint job approach the two boys and the door opened. Raf pointed towards the parking lot and Jack turned. Raf entered the car and Jack was startled. I didn't' pay any more attention as I put on my helmet and went to my motorcycle. I loved how the light hit it and it appeared to be silver when in reality it was a gold color. To me that was the best part of the bike was the way the light reflected off of the bike. I saw a blue motorcycle with pink fenders behind me go towards the street where Jack was and I looked up and saw the exchange student from Japan, Miko, run off towards the direction of the oak tree._ What's going on_? I wondered. I shook my head and started my motorcycle and headed home. I ran for seven miles this time and used a leg press to strengthen my legs. The sled on the press weighed ninety pounds, and I added five forty-fives to each side. I just went until exhaustion and when my legs couldn't take it anymore I put the racks up and let the sled fall onto it. I slipped out from the press and stumbled a bit. I was going to be sore tonight and tomorrow. I recorded what I did and wrote down next to what I did for the leg press in all caps "EXHAUSTION." I then wrote down "weight: 540 lbs" I put the notebook and pen away once more and took another shower.

I watched the evening news again as I ate my dinner, a frozen pizza that I cooked in the oven, but nothing on the news was interesting me so I started flipping through the channels until I came upon TBS and found "The Big Bang Theory." I absolutely loved this show and my favorite character had to be Sheldon, mainly due to his social awkwardness. I watched the marathon until 20:30 and then I got ready for bed. I decided that I would as Jack about what happened at the oak tree on Monday.

**Authors Note:**

**So far nothing is happening, right?**

**But eh, sorry, it'll get better. **

**Please Read and Review.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The weekend came and went without any sign from Silas that anyone was coming to collect my workout log. On Monday, I went through the same routine that I always went through. There was something about the routine that was comforting. I pulled into my normal parking spot and was surprised to see a blue motorcycle that I couldn't identify with pink fenders pull into the spot on my right. I dismounted and took my helmet off. The other rider did the same and I was shocked to see that it was Jack. "When did you get a motorcycle?" I asked looking the motorcycle up and down.

"Friday." Jack answered rubbing the back of his head. He turned and set his helmet on the dash and grabbed his backpack off of the seat.

"How much did it cost you?" I asked still inspecting the bike.

"Umm, fifteen hundred." Jack answered.

I whistled and shook my head. "Man that's cheap."

"It's a project bike."

"I could help you out with it if you'd like," I offered. "I know a lot about engines and motorcycles in general."

"Umm, thanks," Jack said. "If I need anything I'll ask you."

"Okay," I said. "See you sixth hour."

"All right, see ya." Jack said as I walked away.

Something seemed off the more I thought about Jack and his new bike. _That bike didn't seem like a project bike_ I thought during lunch as I ate my ham and cheese sandwich, _far from that actually._ The thoughts bugged me the rest of the day until I got back home and worked out.

Six hour passed and I sat up in shock in the library when I heard an explosion. _What the hell was that?_ I got up from where I was sitting and signed myself out of the library and walked through the hallways. I ended up reaching a certain room, Room 122, and saw that there was smoke in the room. I was tempted to step into the room, but I decided against it and just walked past it. I exited the building and walked towards my Ducati.

"I can't believe that Raf blew a hole in the ceiling!" a kid exclaimed.

I turned around and looked at the kid in disbelief. He was talking to a group of high schoolers and middle schoolers and I listened in.

"Did he really?" another kid asked.

"Yeah, didn't you see the smoke in room one-twenty-two?" the first kid that had spoken asked.

"How did he do that? Is he in trouble?" someone piped up.

"He made a type of volcano and it erupted through the ceiling and then the roof of the school!" kid one replied excitedly. "I don't think that he'll get in any trouble though."

I stopped tuning into the conversation at that point and put my helmet on. I mounted my motorcycle and started the engine. I backed out of the parking space after starting the engine, and I could have sworn that one of the mirrors on Jack's bike moved by itself. I stopped my bike and blinked in confusion. Shaking my head, I convinced myself that it was just a figment of my imagination. I rode towards my new home and entered the garage. I left the garage door open as I shut the engine off and dismounted. I removed my helmet and set it on its hook. I then removed my leather jacket and placed it on a table on the wall across from the door that led into the house. I was about to go and close the garage door when my phone started to vibrate in my left pants pocket. I pulled the phone out and answered it, "Hello?"

"Hello, Beau, you don't have to workout today," came a female voice. "Silas is pleased with your results so far and has told me to inform you that you have earned the day off."  
"Thanks." I said. That was the only thing that I could come up with at the time.

The connection went dead and I put my phone away. A Monday afternoon and nothing to do now, what a better idea than to go for a nice ride in the desert?

Feeling the wind from the ride tugging at my jacket was a surreal experience as I rode through the desert of Jasper, Nevada. The road that I was riding on was completely abandoned, except for me of course, and I absolutely loved it. I was all the way in seventh gear and going 100 mph steadily and the blur of the landscape around me was one of the best things that I could ever experience. I slowed down and shifted down through the gears until I was back down in first gear and doing fifteen mph. I eventually slowed down to a stop and put the bike into neutral before shutting the bike off and putting the kickstand down. It was a relatively hot day out and I removed my jacket and placed it under the seat compartment so that I could cool off. I decided to just rest at the spot I was at for a while and removed my helmet as well. I leaned against my bike and wondered what my life would have been like if my parents were still alive. I brought my hand to the dog tags underneath my shirt and I clasped them. _It's been ten years now since they died, _I thought closing my eyes. _I haven't been to their graves in over five, I wonder if I could get Leland's permission to go there some day. _

I was back at my house three hours later and resting when my phone vibrated once, indicating that I had a text message. I looked at it and saw that it was from an unknown number. The text read: _Be ready, in 3 days time we will be coming for you. No more weights, we need you fresh. You may condition, but do not lift!_

I knew better than to respond to the text, so I just locked my phone and made myself dinner. After I ate my dinner, I finished what little homework that I had left and listened to some music. I finished with the homework and put it back into my backpack before heading off to bed.

The day finally came for me to be picked up by Silas and his followers and I was ready. I was outside and a green looking car pulled up. The door opened and I walked forward. "Ready kid?" a man in a mask asked me.

"As ready as I'll every be." I answered.

"Good," the man answered. "We're going after a power source and it might be heavily guarded."

I nodded my understanding as I too was handed a mask and a similar uniform that everyone was wearing. I put the uniform on and then the mask. "Where's Silas?" I asked.

"In his chopper."

I nodded and we drove to some remote destination. Our radios came online and Silas' voice came on, _They're using unarmed civilian transports, send in the ground troops._

We pulled ahead on the highway and I saw a green SUV. We cut the SUV off from the semi and its trailer, and then we pulled forward. The other vehicles kept around the SUV while we inched closer to the trailer. "Get ready kid," the man said.

_Beau is not to go out there, repeat, Beau is not to go out there unless absolutely necessary and all other options are exhausted!_

The man sighed and looked at me, "Sorry kid, you heard the boss man."

I shrugged; I was all right with it. I then watched as one of our cars was flipping down the road and my eyes went wide behind my mask. _I hope that they're okay._ I thought as we sped past them.

We drove onto a curvy part of the road and all of a sudden, another one of our vehicles went down the cliff. "My god!" I whispered.

"It's part of the job, kid!" the driver said.

We pulled forward and the sunroof opened, or something similar. The man I had talked to stood up and fired three rounds at the trailer of the semi. "Get me closer!"

All of a sudden a motorcycle that looked suspiciously like Jack's came out of the trailer and I have no idea what happened next. I was only aware of the car rolling and then the car wasn't. I looked over at the other two in the car and saw that they were unconscious. I checked their pulses just to make sure and I breathed a sigh of relief. I exited the car and the chopper threw down a rope that I grabbed onto and climbed up as they flew after the trailer. I got in and removed my mask and shook my head to clear what was left of the cobwebs.

"You all right, Beau?" Silas asked me.

"Yeah, I think that I'll be alright." I answered.

"You better put that back on." Silas said indicating my mask.

I nodded slightly and did as I was told. We followed the semi and I was wondering if this was really worth all of the casualties that we were taking. The other runs that I had been on never inflicted this many. The semi and its convoy drove into a tunnel and Silas smiled.

"Tactical error, only one way out." he said.

We saw the convoy emerge from the tunnel and then a train. We were then surrounded by six odd looking planes and then they flew towards the convoy. "Ours or theirs?" I asked.

"It isn't ours." The pilot replied.

Then they fired at the convoy. "I don't think it's theirs." I muttered.

"The military fired at its own?" Silas questioned.

The trailer came unhitched and the pilot said, "Sir the DINGIS!"

The trailer then exploded and I was waiting for the nuclear mushroom cloud to envelope. "Sir, I'm not reading any radiation, the DINGIS didn't melt down." The pilot said.

"No, it did not." Silas replied.

The planes then transformed and my eyes widened. "What the…?"

"So the rumors are true, living technology stands before us, though perhaps not for very long." Silas said sounding pleased.

I looked at him and if those things were alive, then was he thinking about capturing one and then killing it for his game of whatever? We flew around the ensuing fight and the pilot eventually asked, "Sir if the DINGIS wasn't in the truck…?"

"Yes that," Silas said. He then reached for his radio and said, "Special Agent Fowler, you lead a charmed life walking among titans."

Fowler, did he just say Fowler? My eyes widened and I was no longer paying attention to the conversation that was happening. _He was the one that delivered the news to my grandmother and me that my parents had been killed!_ I remembered.

"Get ready, Beau." Silas said.

"What?" I asked snapping out of my thoughts.

"We're approaching the train that contains the DINGIS, you're up." Silas said.

"Yes, sir."

"Immobilize them!" I nodded and grabbed a gun. I fired a shot and the train started to slow down. I then was thrown back as the train tried to land and Silas looked livid. "What happened!" he demanded.

"Hacker," the pilot answered. "Former hacker."

We started the process again and this time we successfully landed on top of the train. I started to cut through the roof of the train car and when it fell through I nodded with satisfaction. I was shocked to see Jack in the car with Miko. "Do you want a slice of this?" Miko demanded holding an ax. "Well, do ya?"

I glanced over at my other two companions and then Jack said, "What she said!"

I raised my eyebrows. A fire extinguisher? Really Jack? "Retreat." Silas said through our coms. We fell back to the chopper and took off. We flew ahead of the train and Silas destroyed the track. I was about to tell him about Jack and Miko, but then I decided against it. I decided right then and there that I was finished. I was finished with MECH and I wouldn't do another run with them. If they were willing to butcher innocents to get what they wanted, then I would have no part in it.

**Authors Note:**

**Still need a femme name, I'm desperate for one!**

**I can't think of any!**

**Please R&R**


	4. Chapter 3

_Before I get started I would like to thank Answerthecall, Perakeles Tandrum, and Shadowstreater27 for the follows. _

_Answerthecall: Flare sounds like a plausible name at this point and I'm glad that you like it so far. _

_Shadowstreaker27: I'm happy that I was able to capture your attention and Nightbird is in the mix of names._

_Mystical (Guest): Flareup is closely related to Flare, but that would be plausible as well._

_(Guest): I'm glad that you think that this is great and I do plan to keep on going._

_Steel Autobot: I'm happy that you believe that this story is "Awesome"_

_ Now to the story…_

**Chapter Three**

It had been almost a week now since the DINGIS incident and I hadn't been permitted to leave the base, wherever the hell that was, and I was starting to get restless. I wanted out of here and this wasn't helping me out one bit. The worst thing about this situation was I felt totally out of control of my own life and to tell you the truth, I most likely was. I was confined to my own room with a cot and a computer, and that was it. If I wanted to go anywhere around this place, I needed an escort of three guards and that totally ticked me off. I was currently inside of my "cell" and on the computer trying to get past all of the firewalls that MECH had set up against hackers when I heard a knock on the doorway. I sighed and just shut off the computer screen. "Who is it?" I asked.

"It's me, Silas."

"What is it?" I asked rubbing my temples.

"May I come in?"

"I don't really want you to." I answered.

"Very well," Silas replied. "Did you know those two kids that were in the train?"

"No," I lied. "I was surprised to see kids in the train car when I cut through the roof. Why am I being confined to this room? What did I do wrong? Why can't I go to school?"

"You're being confined to this room because I do not need a curious teenager wandering my base and no you did nothing wrong," Silas replied. "As for the reason that you cannot go back to school, the government could have traced me to you and therefore use you as a possible lead against MECH."

"So that's another reason why I'm being held here?" I asked.

"Not held," Silas chided. "Watched."

I didn't reply and soon I heard the sound of boots walking away on the metal floor. I turned the monitor back on and resumed hacking into the mainframe of MECH's computer. When I finally succeeded, I placed a flash drive into the USB spot and started to download some information. I smiled, MECH shouldn't have taught me how to hack without being caught. I briefly considered placing a spider-bug virus inside of the mainframe, but decided against it. That would have been too risky on my part. The download finished and I ejected the flash drive. I placed it in a pocket that was located on the right side of my pants and I made sure that it was secure. _Tonight,_ I thought. _Tonight I'll make my escape from this gigantic mistake._

For the rest of the day I watched the clock tick away until I was sure that a new guard was placed outside of my door. I started to slow my breathing down to calm myself down in preparation for my escape. My plan was simple: get to the hangar and steal a plane or helicopter, and then use that to escape. Knock out anybody who got in my way.

I walked over to my computer and killed the security cameras with a virus and planted a spider-bug virus within the system. I had decided in the end that I should plant one in there anyway. I went to the door and knocked on it three times signaling that I wanted to leave. "Really, Beau?" a voice asked.

"I need to use the bathroom, I've been holding it in all day." I replied.

"Fine." A voice responded irritably.

I smirked slightly and then hid it as the door opened. I saw that it was only the one guard. I quickly pulled him in and choked him out. I placed the unconscious body on the cot and took the keys off of him. I was still in my MECH body armor and I didn't care at the moment. I put on my mask and walked out of the room. I closed the door and locked it and then broke the key off inside of the lock. _Whoops._ I thought. I hadn't intended for that to happen, I wanted them to at least be able to get the poor guy out. I made my way to the hangar and saw an Apache helicopter and an F-22 Raptor. I climbed into the cockpit of the Raptor and strapped myself in. I had flown an F-22 three times before and I was comfortable with how it worked. I started take off preparations and exited the hangar. I took off and started flying south.

I reached altitude quickly enough and took deep breaths as my heart was hammering. I couldn't believe it; I had escaped MECH for the moment. _Now where can I go?_ I questioned. _I have MECH's plans in my pocket and I'm pretty sure that the American government would like those plans in their hands. Would I go to DC?_ I snorted in disgust at the last part of that thought. _Scratch that, I'd most likely get shot down before I even entered DC's airspace!_

I flew south for about twenty minutes before a signal started to flash and I felt the jet jolt to the right. I looked out of the cockpit and behind me to see smoke coming out of the right engine. "Shit." I cursed. I saw a mountain range coming up and I grimaced in preparation for what I was about to do.

I pulled the lever from underneath the pilot seat and I was ejected just as the F-22 started to nosedive. The parachute opened up and I waited for the chute to bring me back down to solid ground. _That's the last time I'm stealing an F-22._ I thought with grim amusement.

When I finally got to the ground, it wasn't in the way I thought I would have made it. My chute got tangled in a tree and I became stuck there. I unbuckled myself from the chair and the chair thudded down thirty feet to the ground, but I remained stuck to the parachute. I reached for my folding knife in my left chest leg pocket and pulled it out. I looked beneath me and then back up at the cords keeping me attached to this tree. I grabbed onto a tree branch with my right hand after I opened the knife and I then proceeded to cut the cord on my left shoulder. I cut through that with ease and I slipped a little bit. I then cut through the cord on my right shoulder and I was glad that I was holding onto the tree branch, because I fell all the way down so that I was fully extended and only my right arm was keeping me from falling to my death. I noticed another tree branch just underneath the one that I was holding and I let go and immediately grabbed the other one with both arms. I was then able to fold the knife and put it in a chest pocket. My heart was hammering and adrenaline was coursing through my veins. I lowered myself to the branch beneath me and did that until I reached a point where it was safe for me to just jump out of the tree. I landed with a thud and started walking towards the south. I paused and looked behind me to see a plume of smoke from where I had crashed and I wondered if anything was still salvageable from the crash site. I removed the MECH mask and threw it onto the ground. _I hope that I never have to wear something like that again,_ I thought.

I resumed walking south once again and I kept walking until the sun went down. I used my knife to cut off some small branches and I was lucky enough to find flint stones in my back pocket to start a fire. I found a place with a small alcove in it and made my camping spot there after checking to see if there were signs of any animals' dens there. I built the small fire and closed my eyes to get some rest, totally unaware that I had eyes watching me.

**Unknown's POV**

I watched the indigenous species of the planet earth, known as a human being, after it crashed its mode of transportation. Lucky enough for me, it crashed it right over my pod so I didn't have to worry about the Decepticons finding the site. The human was obviously male and seemed fairly young for the species. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that he made his camp in a place that seemed fairly defensible and would keep him safe from wild predators, in theory anyway because it was not in my nature to let that sort of thing happen to a child or any innocent being to be killed by a wild animal. The shelter also provided protection from the elements of this planet. I would keep a watch on this youngling until he found his way back to his own species and then I would find my way to mine.

**Beau's POV**

I woke up fairly early and saw that it was still dark out. I groaned and removed the body armor from my body. I set it all in the alcove before I exited it and then I started walking again. I made sure that I still had my knife and flint on me before I got too far and I was satisfied that it did. I nodded once in satisfaction and started to jog. I jogged for roughly an hour before I forced myself to stop and take a break. The sun had come up over the mountains a little over twenty minutes ago and I took deep breaths to get my panting under control before I took in my surroundings. So far there still weren't any signs of roads or civilization anywhere. I was currently up on a ridge overlooking a valley when I noticed a large smoldering wreck of something. I squinted at the wreck down in the valley and frowned, that seemed extremely large for wreckage. It looked more like an explosion had taken out whatever had been there. I started to climb down the ridge and it took me half an hour to get to the bottom of the ridge safely. I approached the still smoldering wreckage and stopped about ten feet away taking in the shear size of the thing. _What could have caused this?_ I thought. _It looks almost like the outline of a ship or a…_ my eyes widened in a sudden thought, _What about those things that we saw trying to retrieve the DINGIS? Could they have made something like this? If they did, exactly how big are they?_

I shook my head in wonder and I turned away from whatever it was that was left of whatever and I heard an odd swishing sound. I turned back around and saw a white web flying towards me. My eyes widened and I ducked underneath the web. I looked around for the source and didn't see it. My heart started to pound and I felt it rising into my throat. I never before had felt as afraid as I did in that moment. I started backing up and I raised my right arm behind me to start to search for a handhold and it was quickly bound to the rock in the sticky webbing that I had just avoided. "Shit!" I swore as I felt myself get slammed into the rock. I then heard an even stranger sound, the sound of soft metal clinking on the ground coming towards me. I didn't think it was possible, but my eyes got even wider than they were already when I saw what was making those sounds. It was a gigantic metal looking robotic being supported by six spider looking limbs.

"It looks like I've finally managed to capture what I was looking for," the being said in a female voice that was sinister and had a touch of insanity in it. "A human being as they're known as, your head will make an excellent start to my new collection."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I demanded. "Who made you?"

"No body made me, child," the being said. "I was born just as you were, I however am not an inhabitant of this planet."

"You're an alien?"

"To you I am."

"What are you?"

"I am what is considered a Cybertronian, not that it matters to your pitiful life."

"You know that humans aren't really all that special," I said. "We fight and kill each other just like any other animal on this planet. Our species seems to enjoy violence, if that's what you're looking for I think that you'll find it."

The being landed on its own two feet and approached me, I still had to crane my neck to look up at it though. "Your life means nothing to me, insect," it said.

"Funny that you should call me that, I mean you do have the six legs that support you when you're not like this." I said with a slight smirk.

The robotic being narrowed its eyes and then I felt pain shoot across my face. I was pretty sure that it had just cut me from my right temple to bottom of my left jaw. "Ouch." I said feeling blood trickle down my face.

"I should just kill you now and get it over with."

"I agree, you should," I said looking into its eyes. "After all, I don't think that it'd be befitting a magnificent being like yourself to be unmerciful."

"Fine, I'll give you one hour to live," the being said, "and then I will kill you."

"So you enjoy sport or something?" I asked.

"I enjoy games." It replied before walking away on its other six appendages.

My left hand slipped into one of my pants' pockets on my left side and I pulled out my knife. I bit the blade as I opened it with my left hand. I then looked around to see if the thing was anywhere in the area. I tried cutting through the webbing, but the only thing I could do was lift it up. I was only being held to the rock by the webbing from my hand to just below my elbow. _I'll only do that if I have no other choice._ I thought. I wasn't quite desperate enough to try what had crept into the back of my mind.

I tried cutting the webbing once again and found that I was only getting one strand at a time. I heard the sound of fighting and the sound of metal hitting metal. I closed my eyes and steeled myself for what I now knew what I must do if I even had a remote chance of living. I gripped the hilt of the knife with grim determination and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and made the first cut. I then started the long process of cutting my arm off in order for me to escape. I left the knife embedded in my arm as I pulled out my parents' dog tags and placed them in my mouth so that I could bite down on them instead of my lower lip. I bit down harder as I continued to saw away at my arm with tears streaming down my face. I let out sobs between my clenched teeth, never before had I experienced such acute pain. I never believed that I would have to do this mutilation to myself either, yet here I was cutting my own arm off with a three and a half inch blade. When I was finally able to come free from the rock face, I slid down it in pain. I was able to remove my shirt and I don't know how I did it, but I used the shirt as a bandage and tied it to the stump that was now my right arm. I managed to get myself standing and I did my best to ignore the pain that I was feeling. I started to walk away from the now bloody rock face. I made it to the tree line and then collapsed out of exhaustion, blood loss, and shock. The sound of the fighting had now stopped from what I could still hear and I heard the sound of heavy footsteps running towards me. _God, if you're there, please let me see my parents when I go._ I thought.

I heard a gasp and I turned my head to look and I saw a giant golden, female looking robot. She touched a side of her head and then I closed my eyes surrendering to the eternal darkness.

**Authors Note:**

**Usually I hate cliffhangers, but here I am doing one (I think).**

**Please let me know what you think.**


	5. Chapter 4

_Before I begin I would like to thank Something dictionary related, for the follow._

_**Shadowstreaker27**__: trust me when I write this, but I was exited to write this story and this chapter. I'll do my best to keep up the "good work," but I can't make any guarantees on what some consider good work or not, I'll leave you to be the judge of that. _

_**Answerthecall: **__glad that you found that last chapter interesting, I hope that you find this one just as interesting. I'll do my best to keep it up. My goal is to get some of you followers to favorite this eventually._

_**Brenna Mae (Guest): **__I'm glade that you like my story and I'm flattered that you think that this is the best that you've read. I'll try to keep it that way._

**Chapter Four**

The first thing I heard was the sound of the heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen monitor beeping. I slowly opened my eyes and saw only a very, very tall ceiling above me. I was able to move my head and I saw that the stump of my right arm was all bandaged up and I looked back up to the ceiling as the memories came flooding back. One of my first instincts was to try and move the right hand that was nonexistent and then the other one was to remove the breathing tube that was stuffed down my neck. Soon after I had woken up, I heard very human sounding footsteps though and I turned my head and saw an African American male wearing a suit and a loose tie around his neck. "Ratchet, he's awake." The man yelled and his voice sounded eerily familiar.

_Ratchet, that's an odd name._ I thought to myself. I heard metal footsteps of something heavy coming this way and my heart rate went up. I knew that because I could hear it from the monitor and I could feel it. "_You lead a charmed life walking among titans._" Silas' remark to an Agent Fowler came back. I looked at the African American male and I thought, _Could it possibly be him? If it is I can just give him the flash drive at the moment. I highly doubt that they'd trust me, and I wouldn't blame them._

A robot walked in and I saw that he was white with orange heart rate monitors tattooed on his arms. _That must be Ratchet._

"Hello, I'm the medic of this facility and the designation is Ratchet," the bot said. "You lost a lot of blood before one of our own brought you here and it must've taken a lot out of you because you've been in stasis for five days."

I just blinked rapidly and then motioned with my left hand to the breathing tube in my throat.

"Agent Fowler, could you please remove the breathing apparatus from the patient's throat?" Ratchet asked.

"Of course, Ratchet." Agent Fowler replied. I closed my eyes as Agent Fowler removed the breathing tube and I took in a couple of deep breaths.

"Thanks." I rasped.

"No problem," Agent Fowler responded. "What's your name, son?"

I thought for a moment and then decided to shake my head. "I'm sorry, sir," I answered. "I don't want to answer that at this time."

"Understood, you have a couple of options in front of you," Agent Fowler said. "One, you can come back with me and we can protect you from the threat that is prowling this planet. Two, you can have the protection of the Autobots. Or three, you can leave on your own and forget that this ever happened to you, which I find would be highly unlikely."

"I don't like any of those options, sir," I replied. "You wouldn't trust me and they wouldn't trust me either."

Agent Fowler raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Ratchet. "Go and get Prime and the others please, Ratchet."

"Of course, Agent Fowler." Ratchet replied exiting wherever it was this room was located.

"Why wouldn't they trust you?" Agent Fowler asked me.

"Reach into my right leg pocket and you'll find a flash drive," I said in a still barely audible voice. "On that flash drive you'll find a list of those that are members of the organization known as MECH and you'll also find some plans that MECH has."

"And how did you come by these?" Agent Fowler asked wearily.

I coughed and leaned back into my pillow a bit more. "I stole them by hacking into MECH's mainframe." I replied.

Agent Fowler didn't reply, he just did as I had told him and he removed the flash drive. "How old are you, son?"

"Seventeen, sir." I replied.

"And you flew an F-22 Raptor, hacked into probably a secure mainframe, and had your arm cut off, and you're only seventeen!" Agent Fowler exclaimed.

"Yes, sir."

"Where did you learn to do the first two?" a deep baritone voice asked.

Agent Fowler sighed and said, "Son, I'd like you to meet Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots."

I looked and recognized this bot from the train and DINGIS incident. I also recognized the other three that walked in with this Optimus Prime and Ratchet, from the incident as well. I saw that the blue one was female looking and a golden looking one with silver markings similar to the blue one's pink markings. I didn't recognize the gold one though. "From my adoptive father." I croaked.

"How much did you bots hear?" Agent Fowler asked.

"Enough to know that this child is hiding a secret that he believes will endanger him." Optimus Prime replied. He knelt down and looked at me. "Let me introduce the rest of my team, you've already met Ratchet." Ratchet nodded at me and I nodded back. "There's Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Arcee, and our newest addition is the one that brought you here. Her designation is Flare."

"What are you hiding from us?" the blue one asked, I assumed that was Arcee.

"Arcee, the child will tell us in his own time, I am sure," Optimus said still looking at me. "But the more pressing matter is why Airachnid was still lurking around the area of her ship."

_Aha! So it was a ship!_ I thought closing my eyes. "Optimus, I told you that she is after humans to hunt as trophies, the kid can probably back that up." Arcee said.

I opened my eyes and saw that all of the blue eyes were upon me along with Agent Fowler's brown. "Yes, Arcee is right," I said a bit louder than previous times. "The one that attacked me said that my head would make an excellent trophy for the start of her new collection."

"See, we need to hunt Airachnid down and terminate her!"

"Do not let personal feelings get in the way, Arcee," Optimus said. "Megatron does not forgive rouges."

"Megatron?" I asked. "Who's Megatron?" I hoped that they were referring to Calvin Johnson, a Wide Receiver for the Detroit Lions.

Optimus then explained to my why the Autobots were here; they were fighting a war against something called the Decepticons and their leader Megatron. Optimus even explained the history of the planet Cybertron and how it was now a barren wasteland of a planet. I felt pity for the giant Cybertronians as I was told of their history. I closed my eyes and decided that if they were informing me of this, I should inform them of where I had come from.

Optimus ended his story and there was a small space of silence before I spoke up, "To answer you earlier question Special Agent Fowler, I came from a place that I am not proud of." I paused and looked at Agent Fowler. He looked shocked and so did the Autobots. No one had told me that he was a special agent, I knew because of his discussion with Silas. "I know your title because I was there, I was in the chopper, I was in one of the cars."

"What are you talking about?" Arcee asked on high alert.

"I was a part of MECH." I breathed.

Silence, it can be blissful and it can be deadly depending on the situation. In my current one, I felt that it was one hundred percent deadly. "What?" Agent Fowler asked.

"I was with MECH when they tried to seize the DINGIS," I said ashamed. "My adoptive father is a major official within MECH," not false and not true at the same time. Silas _was_ MECH, "and he convinced me when I was fifteen to become a part of it. I did. When Silas blew up the tracks, I knew that I had to get out of there. I knew I couldn't sit idly by while Silas murdered innocents to either get what he wanted or deprive his enemies of what he did not receive. I hacked into MECH's mainframe and downloaded some things onto it before I made my escape in an F-22 Raptor. The starboard engine blew and I ejected myself from the plane. I was forced to work my way on foot towards civilization when this…Airachnid attacked me and I was forced to cut off my own arm in sake of survival. I hope to atone for what I have done or failed to do, but something deep down in my heart tells me that I'll never be able to do that."

"Ratchet, is he lying?" the green one asked. Bulkhead, that one was definitely Bulkhead.

"No, his heart rate didn't spike like it does when one is lying." Ratchet said.

"Flare? You observed the boy, what did he seem like to you?" Optimus Prime asked.

"The boy seemed like he was determined to do something important," the golden one spoke up. Flare as she was called. Flare had a soft, yet firm voice that had a motherly tone to it. "I felt like it was important to not interfere and try to keep him safe from harm due to the Autobot code, but I failed when Airachnid got him and I was too far away to help him until I found him bleeding in the forest after the coward ran away."

"It sounds too convenient for me," Arcee said, "I mean why would a child have to know how do to all of those things?"

"I wouldn't know the exact reasons," Agent Fowler replied, "but it has happened in the past of the human race and it is happening now. There are such things as child soldiers in the world, some much younger than this young man before us."

"I still don't trust him and I don't trust what he gave you," Arcee said. "What if what he gave you was a virus?"

"I didn't though." I croaked.

"Says the only one who knows what could possibly be on the file."

"I understand that you don't trust me," I said closing my eyes. "I wouldn't trust someone placed in your situation either from what Optimus Prime has just told me about you. In any case, right now I think that it would have just been a hell of a lot simpler if I had just been allowed to die in that forest."

There was a shocked silence before Flare spoke up, "How can you say such things?"

I opened my eyes and looked at the alien robots. "Because, my parents were KIA when I was eight in Iraq," I answered. "I miss them both and some of us humans believe in an afterlife where we can see the loved ones we've lost."

"What is your name, son?" Agent Fowler prodded once more.

"I'm sure that you wouldn't remember the young kid that opened the door to you and that other man in Denver that August evening," I responded. "But I sure remember you. Maybe you'll remember my grandmother's reaction to the news you gave her that her son had been killed and her daughter in law along with him. Do you remember me now, Agent Fowler?"

Agent Fowler looked at me hard and his eyes widened in recognition. "Uncle Sam's beard! You can't be Sandra Schwarz's grandson!" Agent Fowler exclaimed.

"Glad you remember me, William."

"I'm sorry for what happened to your parents Beau, but this attitude won't bring them back." Agent Fowler said softly.

"Execute me as a traitor and it will."

"Stop talking like that, please." Agent Fowler pleaded.

I shrugged and looked away from the group assembled by my bedside.

"Excuse us, would you, Beau." Agent Fowler said after a couple of minutes of silence. I only shrugged, still not looking at the group.

_Wonder if they'll be talking about my detainment or will it be some other thing?_ I wondered. A sudden thought occurred to me. _Why don't I feel any gauze or something on my face? I'm pretty sure that thing called Airachnid slashed me across the face!_

The sound of footsteps permeated throughout the small space I felt like I was being enclosed into and I finally forced myself to look in the direction of the footsteps. All of the Autobots walked in along with Agent Fowler and the Special Agent didn't seem happy. I swallowed and looked from Agent Fowler to the Autobots.

"It has been decided that at the moment for your safety it is best that you remain here." Agent Fowler said.

"What?" I blurted. My heart rate picked up a bit in a small panic. "They don't trust me, you don't trust me! Why keep me here?"

"MECH doesn't know where this place is," Agent Fowler replied. "And until you are fully recovered, you cannot be moved."

"So, I'm a prisoner either way?" I asked.

"No…"  
"Agent Fowler, please don't try to sugar coat this, I know the drill."

Agent Fowler sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, Beau, look at it in the way that you're under surveillance."

"Sugar coated." I said frowning at the man.

Agent Fowler sighed again and muttered something under his breath. He looked at me and said, "Yes you are being held here, but I don't view it as you being a prisoner. I view you more as a child in need of help."

I raised an eyebrow and shook my head. "View it as you will and I'll view it as I will." I replied closing my eyes and letting my head hit the pillow.

_**Three Days Later**_

I woke up feeling well rested and I was almost elated when Ratchet didn't come in to check on me like he had the previous two times I had woken up. I felt a bit stronger and I assumed that was due to the fact that the donor blood had taken effect and my own blood cells were forming. I was still hooked up to an IV and the monitors, which I found irritating, and that didn't really make me happy.

Heavy, metal, footsteps were coming towards me and I recognized the sound of the gates as Optimus Prime and Ratchet. "Good, you're awake." Ratchet said.

"Yeah, and so are you." I replied a bit snarky.

"Beau, please, we are only concerned about your well being." Optimus Prime stepped in.

I bowed my head and then raised it. "When can I start walking around again? I feel fine."

"You've been bedridden for eight days, you might not have the strength to walk." Ratchet pointed out.

"Either way, I want to try," I said. "I don't want to be bedridden for the rest of my natural life."

"Let me unhook you from the IV's first and then we'll see how you're feeling."

I nodded my head and waited for the medic to do that. With such big hands, I was curious as to how they'd work. I watched as Ratchet carefully removed the IV from the veins in my left hand and placed a cotton ball there to stop the bleeding. Ratchet stood up straight and looked at me with his blue eyes. "Are you ready?" he asked me.

I nodded my head once again and slowly moved my legs off of the bed and sat up. I closed my eyes after I saw the stump. "Are you sure that you are ready to progress?" Optimus asked with concern.

I gritted my teeth and opened my eyes. "Positive." I replied with grim determination. I stood up and felt wobbly. I took a step and stumbled a bit. I ground my teeth together and found a new resolve down in my chest to continue. I _was_ going to do this, no matter what; I was going to find a way! I took another step forward and then another. I saw a chair that was across from a mirror and I slowly made my way to the chair. I sat down in it and looked at myself in the mirror. I was shocked by what I saw. It wasn't me. A man with a full beard looked back at me. He looked skinny. I must have lost twenty pounds or so over the week I had been bedridden. The eyes were sunken in and there was a nasty scar across the face. Not to mention a stump of an arm and a bloody mess of bandages where the elbow was supposed to connect to the forearm.

I swallowed and so did the man in the mirror. How had this happened? "How long until the arm heals?" I asked with my eyes closed.

"I'm not sure," Ratchet replied. "But from what I have read on the subject on humans, it should take at least a month."

My eyes snapped open. "A month!" I cried.

"I believe so, yes." Ratchet said.

"Great." I mumbled.

"Although, I think Agent Fowler is stopping by with some surgeons."

"Why?" I asked.

"To fit you for an experimental prosthetic." Ratchet answered.

"What kind of experimental prosthetic?" I asked wearily.

"The kind that is attached directly into your nervous system and attached permanently to your body like your original had been before you removed it." Ratchet answered.

I thought about it for a moment and the nodded my head in acceptance; I had been doing that a lot today. "Tell, Fowler that I'll do it." I heard an odd alarm going off and I looked around in confusion.

"Proximity alarm," Optimus answered. "It means that Agent Fowler is here with the surgeons."

"So you can tell him yourself that you accept the prosthetic." Ratchet added as he and Optimus exited the room that I had been in for over a week.

I couldn't help but let a little smile form at the left corner of my mouth. I didn't have to wait long for Agent Fowler and the surgeons to show up in the room. "Hello, Agent Fowler." I greeted.

"Hello, Beau." Agent Fowler responded.

"Ratchet told me why you're visiting today," I said. "I think that I'd like to try it out."

"The prosthetic?" Fowler asked. I nodded. "Good. Doctor Butcher will take it from here."

_Doctor Butcher?_ I thought looking at the three surgeons in front of me. _That's an interesting name, especially for a surgeon._

"I'm Doctor Butcher," a male in his early fifties with a grey beard said. "We'd like to perform the surgery today, if that's alright with you."

I glanced at the stump and then looked at the doctors. "Isn't it healed properly yet?" I asked.

"Enough for what we have in mind," Doctor Butcher answered. "We need the skin to heal around the implants and we also need the bone to heal around the implants as well."

"Oh." I said in a small voice.

"You'll only be bedridden for another week."

"Do you have any idea how hard that is?" I asked.

"Sorry, but it seems that you were active before your accident," Doctor Butcher said. "The wound after the surgery will take only two weeks to fully heal."

I frowned. "Two weeks?" I questioned.

"You seem to have an abnormally fast healing rate for a human being." Doctor Butcher said.

"How so?" I asked.

"The cut on your face is scarred over already," the doctor replied. "Normally it'd still be scabbed over."

"Oh." I said simply.

"So, can you walk back to the bed?"

I nodded and gingerly stood up and stumbled. Agent Fowler caught me and I looked at him. "Thanks." I said.

"Don't mention it." Agent Fowler replied.

We walked back to the bed and I sat down on it. I laid down on it and the doctors prepped me for surgery. The last thing I remembered was them placing an oxygen mask over my nose and mouth before my eyelids closed.


	6. Chapter 5

_I would like to thank Answerthecall, ilovemusic24601, and 3 for the favorites_

_For the follows I would like to thank ilovemusic24601, 3, and Verdantia_

_**Answerthecall:**__ I'm glad that this is becoming a favorite of yours; I hope to keep that going._

**Chapter 5**

Two days after the prosthetic had been implanted into me, I was up and moving around the base. I don't think that I was making Ratchet very happy, but I didn't care. I wanted to get back outside and see the world again instead of being confined to the base. The area around the implant was scabbed over and raw, but I could "feel" the prosthetic. It's hard to describe how it feels, but it is like the prosthetic is there but isn't there. "How are you feeling, kid?" a soft voice asked me.

I was currently in a large room that I had never been in before. I turned around and saw the golden female Autobot leaning in the doorway. What was her name again? Oh, that's right, it was Flare. "I'm feeling better," I answered. "I'd rather not be here, though."

"Where would you rather be?" Flare asked.

"At home," I answered. "I can't even begin to imagine what it's looking like without me having cleaned it in over a month."

"You remind me a lot of my sister, Solarstar," Flare said. "She was just like you, couldn't stand a dirty house."

"It's not that I can't stand it, it's just that I don't like to be dirty." I said crossing my arms. This was the first time I had done that since I lost my arm, and it felt completely natural.

"You should head back to the med bay before Ratchet glitches."

"I would, but I kind of got lost." I said sheepishly.

Flare smiled at me and beckoned for me to follow her. I didn't understand why the Autobots and Agent Fowler were treating me with any sense of trust due to the position I had been in with MECH. It left me utterly confused. I ran my left hand through my hair and shook my head.

Flare led me into a large room that had a large computer screen and an elevator shaft with a human sized area on an elevated area. There was a TV and a couch. The railings around the elevator shaft looked like they had been there awhile, but at the same time were new. I heard the sound of approaching vehicles and I was brought out of my thoughts.

By now I had become accustomed to the vehicle modes of the Autobots, but I was surprised to see a rider on Arcee. I was even more so surprised when passengers got out of Bulkhead and Bumblebee. I almost keeled over when I saw that the passengers were Miko and Raf. The rider dismounted from Arcee and removed his helmet. Now I was sure that I was going to have a heart attack, it was Jack. The Autobots transformed and Miko looked at me curiously. "Bulk, who's that?" she asked.

I looked at the green behemoth and slightly shook my head, indicating that I didn't want my identity to be divulged just yet. "We found him when we found Flare," Bulkhead answered. "Airachnid attacked him."

I breathed an inward sigh of relief, until Jack stepped forward. "You look familiar, have we met before?" he asked.

"No, I don't believe that we have." I answered.

Jack's eyes drifted down to the prosthetic and I shrugged. I looked at Flare and asked, "Can you bring me to the medical bay?"

"Sure thing, kid." Flare answered.

I nodded my thanks and Flare led me back to the med bay. I went to my bed and sat down on it. I rubbed my temples and I was aware of Flare looking at me. "What?" I snapped.

"Why didn't you want your designation revealed?" she asked.

"I don't want them to know who I am just yet." I answered. "Like I said, I had been at the train after the DINGIS when Jack and Miko were on the train."

"Oh, I heard the stories of that." Flare said sitting down on an Autobot sized chair.

"You probably think I'm a horrible person." I muttered.

"I cannot judge you based off of your past, I can only judge you on how you act in the present." Flare responded.

I snorted in amusement. "Pull the other one," I remarked. "That's all that you have to judge me on is my past."

Flare cocked her head to the side and asked, "How so?"

"Everything I do, it is never in the present, it will always be considered in the past," I answered. "Although it is always now, all that I will do and have done is the past."

Flare looked confused and leaned back into the chair she was sitting on. I looked at the female Autobot and I was amazed at how similar she looked to my motorcycle in color. I was about to ask her what her vehicle mode was when the proximity alarm went off.

I frowned, Agent Fowler and the surgeons weren't supposed to check up on me until tomorrow. Unless I got my dates mixed up. "Shit." I swore.

"What?" Flare asked.

"My identity is going to be revealed, possibly." I said with a suppressed groan. "Agent Fowler and the surgeons are coming to do a check up on me today."

"Oh." Flare said.

Within a couple of minutes I heard shouts of disbelief from Jack, Miko, and Raf. "Thanks Fowler." I mumbled.

Agent Fowler and the three surgeons walked into the room followed by Jack, Miko, Raf, and the Autobots. "How's the arm feeling?" Agent Fowler asked sitting on a chair next to the bed.

I glanced down at the prosthetic before looking Agent Fowler in the eyes. "It feels good, surprisingly," I admitted. "I'm even more amazed at how fast I'm healing."

"About that, Beau," Agent Fowler said getting himself more comfortable. "We ran some blood tests on you and you have an exceedingly abnormal cell reproduction rate."

"Cancerous?" I asked.

"No, it's actually beneficial for your health." One of the surgeons answered.

"So, does that mean the prosthetic will be healed quicker than originally thought?" I asked.

"It does." Another surgeon said nodding her head.

"How long?" I asked.

"By our estimates," the female surgeon said, "two more days."

I nodded and then looked at Agent Fowler and asked a question that had been on my mind. "Once I'm healed, where does that leave me?"

"What do you mean?" Agent Fowler asked.

"Where will I end up? Will I stay under the watchful eye of the Autobots or will I have to come with you?" I asked.

"That has yet to be determined." Agent Fowler answered.

I let out a frustrated sigh and moved my right arm around. "Will there be a way that I can hide this?"

"How so?"

"I don't know!" I said exasperated. "I just don't want people gawking at it!" I glared at Miko pointedly.

"Sorry, dude, I think that it's totally rad!" Miko said enthusiastically.

"You wouldn't think such a thing if I told you how I had to get a prosthetic." I said quietly.

"Everybody out, Beau needs to rest." Ratchet interjected.

"I don't feel tired." I said.

"You may not feel tired, but you're over exerting yourself and you haven't regained all of your blood volume yet," Ratchet said sternly. "Now lay down or I'll get a sedative."

"Yes, sir." I did a mock salute. I nonetheless did what the medic asked me to do and laid myself down fully on the bed. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths to relax myself. I kept taking deep breaths until I felt myself drift into sleep.

**Two days later…**

I was shocked to see that my arm had completely healed over without scarring. Well, there was scarring, but only where the implants went in for the prosthetic. I felt immensely better and I figured that was the fact that my red blood cell count had returned to normal. I was finally allowed to go to the showering room by myself and I felt golden once I finished. I ran the prosthetic hand through my newly acquired beard and I wondered if I should keep it. I saw a razor and shaving cream and I smiled. I guess that answered that question. I shaved until I had a goatee and then I trimmed the goatee. I looked up in the mirror and saw that I looked more like myself than I had in the previous days I had been here.

I exited the room and was surprised to see Agent Fowler waiting there for me. "You look healthier than you should," he commented. "It seems that you're making a swift recovery."

"I am." I answered. I thought about walking past the agent, but instead I asked, "Why are you in here?"

"I have come to deliver news to you." Fowler answered.

"Such as?"

"You're free to go."

"Just like that?" I asked.

"Just like that." Fowler said.

"Will you take me home then? I don't know how to get there from here."

"We moved your house due to the fact that MECH might be looking for you." Agent Fowler answered.

"My motorcycle?" I asked.

"It's there, don't worry." Agent Fowler said smiling.

I nodded and then thought of something. "MECH can still find me." I said.

"That's why we changed your last name," Fowler said. I frowned. "You're now Beau Johnson."

"All right, I guess that works, there's a million Johnsons." I commented.

"And there's another thing," Fowler said. I looked at him with a quizzical expression. "You won't be allowed to go to school any more and you won't be without protection."

"What?" I asked in disbelief. "You can't just take me out of school!"

Agent Fowler shrugged and walked out of the room with me hot on his heels. "That's not up to you, boy." He said.

"I think that it should be! It's my blasted education!" I exclaimed. "And what is this protection detail that you were talking about?"

"You'll be under constant surveillance from my agency and other agents."

"How did you end up from delivering news of a loved ones death to this?" I demanded.

"Long story, kid," Fowler said with a sigh. "It's one that I don't like to tell and I will not tell."

"I deserve some answers! My life can't just go off the radar! Silas is too smart for that! He'll find me!" I said.

"He's your adoptive father, isn't he?" Agent Fowler asked.

I clamped my jaw shut and looked away. "I'm sorry." Agent Fowler said.

"For what?" I snapped. "That he gave me a home? That he gave me a family after mine was killed defending this country? After I had been screwed over by the foster care system? I'm not! The man may have his faults, but he did one thing right and I think that was adopting me! Without him, God knows where I could've ended up!"

Agent Fowler sighed and looked me in the eyes. "He may have made a good choice in adopting you, but attacking us and placing youths in risk? He has made many poor decisions lately." Fowler said.

I opened my mouth but I bit back the retort that had popped into my mind. Fowler did have a point there. I looked away and refused to look at the agent from who knows where.

"Beau," Agent Fowler said softly.

"Bug off." I growled stalking out of the corridor and towards the med bay.  
I reached the med bay and I saw that it was empty and all of my things, which weren't many, were neatly packed and set on the bed. All I had was the clothing that I had originally been brought in here with. The clothes I was wearing had been bought by whatever agency Fowler worked for. I opened the bag and looked for my parents' dog tags. I couldn't find them and I started to panic. _Where the hell are they?_ I thought in a panic. I removed all of the contents from the bag and looked frantically for them. I couldn't find them. I replaced all of the contents and sat on the bed feeling depressed.

"What's wrong, kid?"

I looked up and saw Flare standing in the doorway. "I can't find the dog tags that I came in with." I answered sadly.

"Agent Fowler is making new ones for you," Flare answered. "You damaged the other ones. There were teeth marks and blood stains that couldn't be removed."

"Oh." I said, feeling somewhat better. "What about the knife I had?"

"Ratchet doesn't want you to have that back." Flare said.

I was floored, did the grouchy medic think I was seriously going to harm myself like that again. "You've got to be kidding me! Does he really think that I'll harm myself like that again?" I demanded. Before Flare could answer I continued, "Like hell I would! That was only meant to be used in self defense or for other purposes!"

Flare shrugged and signaled for me to stand up. I did what she asked and I grabbed my bag. I was aware of the distrusting looks that I was receiving from Bulkhead, Ratchet, and Bumblebee as Flare led me into the main room and towards the elevator shaft. Agent Fowler must have told them who my adoptive father was. I walked up the stairs and joined Agent Fowler and I looked at the Autobots. "Thank you for taking care of me." I said sincerely.

"It would have been indecent of us to just let a youngling die." Optimus said.

_Indecent, yeah that's a nice word choice._ I thought to myself.

"It's time to go, kid." Agent Fowler said.

I nodded slightly and entered the elevator shaft. When we reached the top Agent Fowler didn't open the door right away. "What gives?" I asked.

"I cannot allow you to know the location of the base," Agent Fowler said. "I need to take precautions with you." He held out a bandanna.

"I understand." I said taking the bandanna and blindfolding myself.

Agent Fowler led me to something and helped me get in. I soon heard the distinct sounds of a helicopter starting and I leaned back into my chair. After about fifteen minutes or so, Agent Fowler said, "You can remove your blindfold."

I did as he said and looked at the landscape. Nothing was familiar, but it was a military base, that much I could see. There were a bunch of hangars and they were lettered A through F. I frowned in confusion. "I thought you were taking me to a new house and that I would be free to go." I said.

We landed and Fowler looked over at me. "You will be allowed to go freely," he said, "we just need to get your DNA, fingerprints, and other information out of you."

"So it's like I'm on parole?" I asked.

"Almost."

I shook my head and exited the helicopter. Fowler led me towards hangar E and I wondered why that specific hangar. I heard a peculiar noise and turned to Fowler and asked, "What's that noise?"

He turned around and then yelled, "RPG!"

I turned around and my eyes widened as I say an RPG take out the helicopter. Agent Fowler and I were thrown backwards by the explosion. Humvees with fifty cals mounted to them came out of hangar B and started firing towards an area that the RPG game from and I got up and shook my head. Return fire came and I looked at Agent Fowler. He was unconscious. "You've got to be kidding me!" I muttered. I ran over to the prone body and picked him up and ran towards hangar E. Gun fire was going off around me and I kept running. I made it into the hangar and set down Agent Fowler. I found some Kevlar and put that on.

"What do you think you're doing?" a voice yelled.

I looked up and saw a man with a mustache approaching me. I squinted and on his military uniform it said, Bryce. "I'm going out to help, sir." I replied.

"No you're not," the man said. "I don't trust you."

"I wouldn't trust me either if I were placed in your situation," I said. "Agent Fowler has something that I gave him, surely he talked to you about me?"

"Beau Schwarz, adopted by MECH."

"Correct, sir." I said nodding my head.

"I knew your father," the man said. "Show me that I can trust you by helping us defend this base from MECH, and then we'll talk."

"Give me an M-16 and some ammo and I'll be set sir." I said. _What the hell am I thinking? I'm going to fight my friends?_ I thought. I snorted in my mind. _Friends? What kind of friend would let a seventeen year old risk their life for a nuclear device that could have melted down? Maybe Fowler was right, Leland has made more mistakes than he has made correct choices!_

I was given an M-16 and three magazines of ammo. I put on a helmet and ran out to join the fight. I loaded the assault rifle and hid behind the smoldering wreckage of the helicopter. I saw some of the troops taking fire from MECH troops and I came out of the wreckage and fired at the MECH troops. I saw a MECH soldier grab his thigh and fall to the ground, but I couldn't concentrate on that. I continued to provide covering fire for the troops pinned down. I became a moving target that the MECH soldiers were firing at. _This was an excellent idea! _I thought to myself sarcastically as I performed a baseball slide behind an upturned Humvee. I reloaded the gun with a fresh magazine and discarded the empty one. _Great, now I'm pinned!_

I stood up and returned fire before getting back down behind the safety of the Humvee. I heard an explosion and I wondered what that was. The gunfire ceased and I looked around. I saw a MECH soldier inching closer towards my flank and I shot him in the chest three times without thinking. The firing started up again and I made my way out from behind the Humvee and not a moment too soon. The Humvee exploded and I found a pile of sandbags. The fighting continued for another ten minutes before all of the renegades were either killed or taken prisoner.

I removed my helmet and closed my eyes. _I can't believe I just ended another person's life!_ I thought miserably. _What have I become? I never wanted this. I never wanted to be a killer. What have I done?_

"You alright?"

I looked up and saw Agent Fowler standing there. "No," I answered. "I killed someone today. When did you wake up?"

"Three minutes ago," Agent Fowler replied sitting down next to me. "I gave General Bryce the flash drive and he said that since you helped defend the base and didn't turn on us, you're free to go."

"Last time you said that, you brought me here," I pointed out. "Where am I going now?"

"I contacted the Autobots a minute ago," Agent Fowler said. "They'll bring you to your new house in Jasper."

"When will they get here?" I asked.

"A minute or two."

"How will they get here so quickly?"

"You'll see, kid."

I extended the assault rifle and removed the Kevlar and handed that to Fowler as well. "Might as well give these back to you." I said.

"You're bleeding."

I looked down and saw that he was right. It was only a scratch though on my left forearm. "It's only a flesh wound," I said with a shrug. "I'll be fine."

All of a sudden a green swirling vortex opened up and a red and blue semi came through. I raised my eyebrows and thought, _Well, that answers the question on how they could get here so fast._

"There's your ride." Fowler said.

"See ya later, Agent Fowler." I said.

"I'm sure you will."

I walked over to the semi and the passenger side door opened and I climbed in. "Agent Fowler informed us what you did here." A voice said out of the speakers.

"Optimus?" I asked. I had never seen his vehicle mode, except for that DINGIS incident.

"Correct," Optimus replied. "Agent Fowler also told us who your adoptive father was."

I squirmed in my seat as Optimus drove off into the vortex. I looked into the vortex and remained silent. "I didn't want that information out there." I said.

"Nonetheless, it is out there," Optimus said. He drove into the main room of the base, and then through the tunnel. "You cannot change who that is, Beau."

"I know," I whispered. "I just wish that I was never caught up in the situation that I'm caught up in now."

"Most in difficult situations think that way." Optimus said.

"How do you deal with killing someone?" I asked.

"Agent Fowler did not inform us of this…" Optimus said in surprise.

I was watching the landscape as Optimus drove down the highway and eventually into the little town of Jasper, Nevada. "What makes you think I killed someone?" I asked.

"Your demeanor and the question." Optimus answered.

I sighed and kept looking out of the window until I noticed that a motorcycle that looked like Arcee followed us. "Is that Arcee?" I asked trying to change the subject.

"It is Arcee and Jack," Optimus answered. "But please do not try to change the subject."

"Can't blame a kid for trying." I muttered.

"What happened?" Optimus asked.

I told Optimus what happened when I reached the base with Fowler and what happened to our helicopter. I told him everything. I told him how I provided covering fire for the pinned down troops and then got myself pinned. I told him how I then killed someone who I had most likely known. "Does it ever get any easier?" I asked.

"No, killing never gets any easier," Optimus answered. "But I feel that trying to distract oneself from their thoughts is the best way to change the course of one's thoughts."

"Are you always this cryptic?" I asked.

Optimus chuckled and then answered, "Not always, but I hope that you can reconcile with yourself on what you have done. From what I understand of your situation, you never were close to anyone in MECH. You didn't know that many people and you might not have known the man you killed."

Optimus stopped outside of a house and Arcee pulled into the driveway of the house next door. "Thanks, Optimus," I said gratefully. "But is it really wise for you to place me next to Jack and his family?"

"It might not be, but this was the only house available on the market for sale," Optimus answered. "Agent Fowler was adamant on the fact that you needed to be watched and so were my soldiers."

"I'm a threat to you, aren't I?" I asked.

"Yes." Optimus said bluntly.

"Why not just kill me?" I asked.

"We do not believe in harming innocents."

"I'm not innocent," I said. "I've done harmful things and probably evil things…"

"But those acts do not define who you are as a person," Optimus interrupted. "Do they?"

"But…"

"Do they?" Prime interrupted again.

"No, sir."

"So by Autobot law, you are innocent until proven otherwise guilty of being harmful." Optimus said.

"All right…" I said trailing off.

"You should get out and get some rest, Beau," Optimus said. "You seem as if you are about to collapse from lack of recharge."

I nodded and exited the cab and entered the house. I was shocked; it was exactly like the other house had been. "You've got to be joking." I muttered out loud.

I headed to the garage and saw the Ducati waiting there and I inspected it. Not a scratch was on it. I shook my head and left the garage and headed to the master bedroom. I stripped down to my boxers and did fifty push-ups and then one hundred crunches. I didn't want myself to get soft. I got into bed and let my head hit the pillows. I closed my eyes and let the dream world take me away.


	7. Chapter 6

_I would like to thank EmoPirateLuv for the follow and Shadowstreaker27 for the favorite before I begin. _

**Chapter 6**

It had been three days since the run in at the agency's base with MECH soldiers and I was still feeling depressed. I rarely left the house and when I did, it was only to get some food. I had started rehab for my body and tried my best to get myself back into shape, but I just didn't have the motivation anymore. The worst part was I was still experiencing phantom pains of where my arm used to be. Even though I had the prosthetic in place, I still had pains and I didn't understand that. I was currently in the dinning room sitting at the table eating some Honey Nut Cheerios and sipping some Chai tea. I was still uncomfortable with the idea that I had a prosthetic limb and a huge ass scar that spanned my face. I let out a sigh and finished eating the cereal. I stood up and took the empty bowl into the kitchen and placed it in the sink, along with the spoon I had used. I went back to the dinning room and finished my tea. _I should for a ride. It'd do me some good to get out in the open and ride. I need the fresh air anyway._ I thought.

I went to my room and changed into riding attire before I headed to the garage and opened the garage door. I locked the house and placed the keys in my right pocket. On my left hip I had a Glock-18 just in case I needed to defend myself. I had the permit and everything in my wallet with my fake ID of Beau Johnson. I mounted the Ducati and backed out of the garage. I shut the door and started the engine. I put on my helmet and got on the street. I headed towards the highway and accelerated to highway speed while shifting into gear. I looked into my right mirror and saw two black cars with purple tinted windows following me. _Are they MECH?_ I wondered.

I got off onto an exit and the two cars followed. I frowned and accelerated to ninety miles per hour, yet the cars kept up with me. _Damn it! _I swore. _Oh my god!_ My eyes widened when I saw guns come out of the hoods of the vehicles. I swerved and avoided the first gunshots and I was surprised to see that they weren't actual rounds that went past me. They were purple balls of energy or something like that. _It has to be MECH!_ I thought avoiding another shot.

The cars continued to fire at me and I continued to evade the shots. I couldn't help but wonder what they were using as ammo, it seemed that the rounds were nonstop. I slowed down and the cars sped past me. I smiled as I turned around on the abandoned road that we had been using and I was shocked to see a motorcycle that looked identical to mine come zooming towards me. _What the fu-…_ I never got to finish that thought because I found myself flying through the air and the motorcycle flying towards me transformed into Flare. She dove and caught me before I hit the ground.

"You okay kid?" she asked.

"Fine, thanks." I said as she set me down gently on the ground.

I turned around and saw that the two cars transformed as well and I un-holstered my Glock. "Put that away, kid," Flare said. "That won't harm them."

"It could make them blind." I replied pulling back the slide and aiming at the one on the left. I found that the thing didn't exactly have eyes like the Autobots did; it was more of a red visor that stared back at me, so I didn't know where to shoot. I took a deep breath in and held the pistol steady and then squeezed the trigger. The robot on the left clutched its face and cried out in agony as Flare charged the other one. I holstered my pistol and watched Flare at work.

The silver things on her arms became knives and she used them efficiently to take care of the other robot, removing the head from the body. She turned around and shot the other one that I had shot with a blue energy shot to the head and it collapsed. "Ratchet, call Agent Fowler." She said touching the side of her head.

_Great, what did I do?_ I wondered.

"Two Cons," Flare said. There was a pause. "I took care of them with some help from a familiar face." Another pause as Flare seemed to be listening. "Beau." Flare winced and opened her mouth and then closed it. She waited until she deemed it safe to talk and said, "I understand that, Ratchet, it's just that they were chasing him for some reason. He shot one in the face and blinded it." A long pause this time. "I understand Optimus, I'll bring him. Flare out."

"What was all of that about?" I asked walking over to my totaled motorcycle.

"You need to come back to the base." Flare said looking down at me.

"I thought I was free to walk." I said frowning behind my helmet.

"You are, but if the Decepticons think that you are an ally of ours, you're in grave danger."

"So I have two organizations hounding after my blood?" I asked.

"Pretty much, unless you come with me and hear us out." Flare said.

"Fine, I'll go with you, but what about all of the carnage you left behind here?" I asked.

"Agent Fowler will clean that up."

"What about my motorcycle?" I asked. "How are you able to look like it?"

"That is a discussion for another time, and we'll discuss the motorcycle issue later, kid." Flare said transforming into her vehicle mode.

"Fine, I just don't want to leave it here." I muttered.

"Get on and we can get a move on." Flare said.

I mounted Flare and she rode off the way she had come. It was relaxing to ride like this, knowing that I didn't have to control everything. At the same time, though, it was a bit odd to experience. My eyes widened in shock when Flare went off the road and headed towards a large rock structure and I thought she had blown a gasket. I was about to question her when the rock face opened and revealed the base's tunnel. I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a bit. We stopped in the main room and I dismounted Flare and removed my helmet. Optimus, Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee where all there and I heard Flare transform behind me.

"Hello, Beau." Optimus said.  
"Optimus." I said respectfully. "Why am I here?"

"Decepticons attacked you and that leaves you in grave danger," Optimus answered. "We can offer you a guardian in case a Decepticon decides to try and attack you again."

"Why would a…Decepticon attack me? I was never affiliated with you before." I asked curious.

"Because, kid, I saw your motorcycle a day ago and scanned it as my alt form," Flare said. "The Decepticons don't want to take any chances."

"So they thought that I was you?" I asked.

"Correct, they ambushed you believing that it was me, hoping to lower the Autobot ranks." Flare said.

"I'll just get a new bike." I said simply.

Optimus shook his head and said, "Megatron would not fall for that, and he would believe that you are still connected to us."

"So what are my options?"

"I urge you to take Flare as your guardian."

"And if I refuse a guardian?" I asked.

"You're as good as dead, kid." Bulkhead said.

I looked at Bulkhead and asked, "Since when did you start to care about a kid that was raised by MECH? After all I recall before I left all of you looked at me like I was worse than trash. Why start caring now?"

Bulkhead opened his mouth to reply and then closed it. He looked around for some help and I just kept glaring at him. "Because you're now involved in our war." Bulkhead said weakly.

I snorted and shook my head. "That was the most pathetic answer I think I've ever heard," I said. "I know Fowler must've told you who my adoptive father was. I just want to lie low and avoid any possible violence I can."

"We have been informed that Silas is your adoptive father," Optimus said kneeling down in front of me. "I also informed the rest of my team what you did to help protect Agent Fowler's base."

"I bet their reaction was something along the lines of what a damn good ruse," I said looking the Prime the eyes. "Gain their trust and then exploit it!"

I was met with only silence and the tension in the air was so strong it could've been cut with a knife. "Pretty close actually." Flare sighed.

I turned around and looked at her. "Yeah, well I can tell you that I don't want to work for MECH anymore and do any of you have any idea how hard it was for me to walk away from the only father I've known since I was practically eight?" I asked still feeling anger. "The only family I've had since I was eight?" I said more quietly.

Flare knelt in front of me and I was aware of the ground shifting as Optimus stood up. "Look kid, the time that you were here, I got to know you pretty well," Flare said. "I just want to give this a shot. I don't think I could stand seeing a youngling like you become another casualty in this war."

I sighed and looked away from Flare. _What harm could it do? I just saw Flare take out those two things they called Decepticons. I would've been left defenseless against such a foe. _I looked back at Flare and gave a nod. "Fine, we'll do this your way." I said.

Flare visibly relaxed and smiled at me. "Thank you, Beau," she said.

"Now that all of this is settled, can I go home?" I asked.

"Of course," Optimus said.

I nodded and Flare transformed behind me. I put my helmet on and mounted the motorcycle behind me. Flare rode out of the tunnel and I focused on the ride more than anything. I opened up the garage when she pulled into my drive way and I walked her in. I closed the garage door and she transformed. I was surprised and I turned around to look at her. She was kneeling and looking at me like she wanted to talk, so I removed my helmet and asked, "Why did you transform?"

"I find it easier to talk to you like this." Flare responded. "What's going on? I can see how depressed you are."

"It's nothing, I'm fine." I tried.

"Don't give me that scrap," Flare said. "What's on your processor?"

"My what?" I asked confused.

"Your mind." Flare clarified.

"It's the fact that I ended another human's life," I said softly. "It bugs be, all right? You have your confession out of me. I _killed_ someone and yet here I am without any sort of repercussions except a 'good job' and a 'thank you' that's what really bothers me about this!"

"I felt the same way when I joined the Autobots and I killed my first Decepticon." Flare revealed.

"How did you deal with it?" I asked.

"I looked to see if my killing was justified and just," Flare said looking me in the eye. "I found that it was because I defended myself and my comrades."

"How did you deal with the nightmares?" I asked.

"I always thought of a place I had felt at peace before I was caught up in the war," Flare answered. "Whenever I would have a nightmare, I would picture myself in my place of peace and went back to sleep with an empty mind."

I sighed and looked at Flare with a new found respect. "Thank you," I said. "I needed the talk."

"Anytime, Beau, anytime." Flare said transforming back into her vehicle mode.

I unlocked the house and went inside. I headed to my room and placed my riding gear on their hooks on the bedroom door. I closed my eyes and wondered, _What is my happy place?_ I opened my eyes and removed the holster and Glock from my hip. I found my real dad's old 45 and closed my eyes. _Why do I feel like absolute crap?_ I viewed my reasons for killing that MECH soldier and reviewed them in my mind. _I was defending others, I was defending myself, are there any other reasons more justifiable than that?_

"I hope that you're not going to do what I think you're going to do."

My eyes snapped open and I realized that I was holding the 45 to my head. I looked in the doorway and saw a woman that had golden hair and blue eyes. She was a good foot shorter than I was and she was dressed in a golden colored shirt with silver running down the wrists. The pants were black. "Flare?" I asked in confusion.

"Who else would it be, kid?" Flare asked placing her hands on her hips.

"Sorry," I apologized. "I just didn't know that you were capable of producing a human form."

"I'm glad that I stopped in to check on you," Flare said looking at the 45 in my hands. "I don't even want to think about what would've happened if I hadn't."

"I was only thinking." I said.

"About what? Killing yourself?" Flare asked.

I set the gun on the bed and ran my prosthetic through my hair. I hadn't even realized that I had been placing the gun to my head and sitting down on my bed until Flare came in. "I didn't even know what I was doing," I said truthfully. "I was only thinking about what you had told me and I thought about why I killed the MECH soldier."

"What did you find?" Flare asked softly.

"That defending others and myself is the only acceptable reason to kill a person." I said softly. "It doesn't make me feel any better though."

"It never gets any easier." Flare said.

"You think that I'll have to kill again?" I asked.

Flare shook her head. "No, but I think that you'll have to face your demons at some point," she said. "I think that you'll have to face Silas and MECH at a point somewhere down the road as well."

"I hope that I can go down that road peacefully." I sighed.

"So do most that eventually have to go down that road."

"Thanks again, Flare," I said. "I don't want to think about what would've happened if I had pulled that trigger."

"Do you have any other weapons besides that gun and the one you were carrying?" Flare asked.

I shook my head and looked up at the ceiling. "No, just the kitchen knives since Ratchet still has the knife Silas gave me."

"Good, because I'm removing those from the house until you're stable." Flare said.

I opened my mouth to object, but decided against it when I saw Flare's pointed glare. I nodded my consent and grabbed clothes for a shower. I entered the bathroom and closed the door. I stripped down and got into the shower as I turned on the hot water. _What I really need is a guitar,_ I thought. _I haven't played one in roughly two months, but that might help me relax._

I finished my shower and dried off. I put on deodorant and shaving cream on my cheeks. I silently debated whether or not to keep the goatee, and decided against keeping it. I put shaving cream on the goatee as well and started shaving. I finished and looked at my naked face. It was a foreign site to see. I had my father's cleft chin and my mother's prominent jaw line. I sighed and got my clothes on. I wore black shorts that went down to my knees that had a silver line down their sides and I also put on a blue sleeveless tee. I sighed once again and opened the bathroom door. I headed to my room and climbed into the full sized bed. I looked at the clock and it read 7:11 PM. I closed my eyes and hoped that the nightmares wouldn't come tonight.

**Author's Note:**

**MECH will return next chapter **

**PS~ if someone could do a cover art for me i'd be one happy author, my drawing abilities stink. If anyone could do that, PM me and i'll send you an email address that you can send the picture to. Thanks**


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

I have now had Flare as a guardian for just over a week and I found it comforting to know that I once again did not have to face the world alone. I had gotten to know Flare a bit better over the week she was guarding me and I was saddened to learn that her family was dead too. I never asked her about her experiences in the War for Cybertron, and she likewise didn't ask me about what had happened at Agent Fowler's agency's base. Two days ago, MECH had made a comeback and nearly taken a Decepticon called Breakdown and used him as an experiment. One thing that I hadn't told Agent Fowler was that I had made a second copy of the flash drive, because this copy was personal. I was currently going through the flash drive and found a project had been added to the list. Part of the virus that I had implanted into the mainframe would provide me with information every time that it was updated. _What are you up to? What is Project: Chimera?_ I thought holding my chin in my left hand. _If they took that Decepticon, they were trying to dissect him…does that mean they're actually going to try and make themselves a transformer? If they didn't get everything from the Con, then I'm willing to bet they'll try again with another transformer._

"Beau, we need to get going." Flare called from the garage.

"I'll be right there," I called back. "I just need to finish something real quick."

"Alright, I don't want to be late again," Flare called. "Ratchet can get pretty grouchy."

I chuckled; I couldn't picture the medic any grouchier than he already was. I closed my laptop that Agent Fowler had been so kind to get me and I stood up and grabbed my leather jacket. I went to where my Glock was and I placed that in my holster. I exited my room and headed to the garage and entered it. I locked the door and turned to face the impatient femme, as I had learned they were called. "I'm ready." I said.

"No you're not," Flare commented. "You don't have your helmet."

"I'll be fine, I have you doing all of the work anyway." I said.

"Fine, don't come complaining to me if we get in a wreck and you get yourself hurt."

"I won't."

I opened the garage door and mounted Flare and she backed up. I closed the garage door with the remote garage door thing and Flare backed us out of the driveway. We followed the now familiar route to the Autobot base and I dismounted once we entered the main room. I kept my leather jacket on and I had a black leather-riding glove on my prosthetic. I had become adept at hiding the prosthetic from prying eyes whenever I went out and it had just become a second nature. Flare transformed and I went to the designated human area. "Any news on MECH?" I asked.

Ratchet briefly turned away from his computer to answer me, "Agent Fowler has not contacted us about it." The medic turned back to his computer and I nodded.

_That means there's some type of news, they're just not willing to share it with me._ I thought. _They don't trust me yet and I doubt they ever will._

"You okay kid?" Flare asked me.

I turned around and looked at my guardian. "Yeah, I'm fine." I lied.

Flare looked me up and down as if she knew I was lying to her. "Okay, I just don't want you to become a recluse."

I laughed and shook my head in grim amusement. "I think that it's a little late for that, don't you?" I asked. "I don't have anybody that trusts me and I have done nothing to earn that distrust besides being adopted. I can't get close to anyone out of fear that they work for my father and what makes that worse is you never who works for him."

"That bad, huh?" Flare asked.

"You have no idea." I said walking down the stairs and away from everything.

"Where are you going?" Flare asked.

"Somewhere where I can be alone." I replied walking into the corridor. I walked through the hallway and I finally found a room that had a human sized door. I entered and I was surprised to see that there was an electric guitar, a chair, and an amp. I walked over to it and I didn't plug it in. I pulled the chair over and sat down. I strummed the guitar a few times and winced when I heard the tuning. I personally liked guitars in standard tuning, but this was set up for hard metal, maybe even death metal. I tuned the guitar until it was back at standard tuning and then I plugged it in. I fumbled around with a couple of chords for a while until I regained my familiarity with the instrument. I turned the amp on and turned the volume down a bit. I adjusted everything to my liking and started to play "Seven Nation Army," by the White Stripes. It was one of the easiest songs to learn on guitar and the solo had to be the easiest one ever as well. I finished the song and wondered what song to play next. Even though I didn't know the entire song, I started to just play "Sunshine of your Love," by Cream. The sound to me was unique and I loved it. I played that and replayed it.

I eventually grew tired of that song and I felt like I was about to explode with the built up tension and stress that had been combined with my loneliness. I started the intro the "Paranoid," by Black Sabbath and then I started to sing as I played.

"_Finished with my woman 'cause she couldn't help me with my mind/ People thinking I'm insane because I am frowning all the time/ All day long I think of things but nothing seems to satisfy/ Think I'll lose my mind if I don't find something to pacify/ Can you help me?/ Thought you were my friend/ Whoa yeah!/ I need someone to show me the things in life that I can't find/ I can't see the things that make true happiness, I must be blind." _I stopped singing as I played the solo. I finished the solo and played the interlude. I then started singing again, "_Make a joke and I will sigh and you will laugh and I will cry/ Happiness I cannot feel and love to me is so unreal/ And so as you hear these words telling you now of my state/ I tell you to enjoy life, I wish I could but it's too late._" I played the outro of the song and then finished it. I sighed and let the final note ring throughout the room I was in. I didn't feel any better and wondered why I still felt like crap. _One more song, that should do it._ I thought to myself.

I racked my brain trying to remember a song I knew, and I settled on one, "Fade to Black," by Metallica. It was my favorite song by them and right now I felt like that song suited my life more than I could have previously imagined. I started playing the intro and started the beginning solo. I worked my way up and then I was ready to sing once again. "_Life, it seems, will fade away/ Drifting further every day/ Getting lost within myself/ Nothing matters, no one else/ I have lost the will to live/ Simply nothing more to give/ There is nothing more for me/ Need the end to set me free/Things not what they used to be/ Missing one inside of me/ Deathly lost, this can't be real/ Cannot stand this hell I feel/ Emptiness is filling me/ To the point of agony/ Growing darkness taking down/ I was me, but now he's gone/ No one but me can save myself, but it's too late/ Now I can't think, think why I should even try/ Yesterday seems as though it never existed/ Death greets me warm, now I will just say goodbye."_ I stopped singing and played the solo. I felt tears come running down my face and I kept playing. I finished the solo and the song and I closed my eyes. I opened my eyes and turned the amp off. I unplugged the guitar and sat back down on the chair I had found. I carefully set the guitar down on the ground and wiped the tears from my eyes. I felt better now that I had expressed my feelings to something, even if it had been an empty room. I waited until the tears stopped before I wiped the remains of the saltiness away. I finally stood up and opened the door. I was shocked to see Jack, Miko, Flare, Arcee, and Bulkhead standing outside. _Shit, they heard all of that._ "Umm, hey." I said.

"Are you sure that you're okay?" Flare asked me.

"Positive, why wouldn't I be?" I asked.

"We all heard the sound of Miko's guitar being played and came to investigate," Jack said.

"Yeah, dude, you're a total shredder!" Miko exclaimed.

"Sorry, Miko, I didn't know it was your guitar." I apologized.

"That's alright, dude, as long as there isn't damage to it." Miko said looking pointedly at me.

"Then we heard you start to sing." Flare said. I inwardly winced. _Yep, they definitely heard all of that._ "The choices of song sounded depressed."

"I'm fine, can everyone just take a step off and leave me alone?" I asked. "Especially those two!" I pointed at Bulkhead and Arcee. "I know that they don't trust me and I doubt they ever will, so here comes the biggest question, why to the two of _you_ care?"

"Beau!" Flare exclaimed.

"Flare, let him be," Arcee said. She looked at me and let out a sigh. "It's true that I don't trust you, kid, not yet. It hurts to see a youngling that depressed though. As to why Bulkhead and I care, that's because Flare is family to us. We care because she cares."

I snorted and shook my head. "Drop all of the phony faces and come right out and say that I don't belong here, I know I don't. I'm surprised that Optimus let in a potential threat like me in the base anyway." I said. I looked at Flare and asked, "Can I just go home?"

Flare sighed and looked at me and motioned for me to follow her, which I did without hesitation. I just wanted to get out of that situation as quickly as possible. When we reached the main room, Flare transformed and I got on. She quickly got me home and I was about to enter the house when she asked, "Are you sure you don't want to talk?"

I took a deep breath in and then let it out before I answered, "I'm sure. I just need to be alone for a bit."

"Alright, I'm here if you want to talk."

"I know." I said before I entered the house.

**Three days later…**

I was outside mowing the lawn when Jack's mother got home. I was surprised to see a black SUV pull up behind her. I stopped mowing the lawn and hid behind a brush to watch what was going on. A man dressed in a MECH uniform exited the SUV just as Jack's mom exited hers. My eyes widened. _They figured out where I live! _I thought at first in a panic. I was shocked when the man went after Ms. Darby though. _What on earth?_ "My god…" I whispered. It couldn't be possible.

I burst out of my hiding spot and tackled the man just as he was about to taze Ms. Darby. I turned the Taser on him and knocked his ass out. "Beau?" Ms. Darby said in surprise. "What are…"

"Go inside and lock the door." I interrupted. "These aren't good people and they're here for you."

"What…"  
"Just go!" I yelled as three other MECH agents came out of the SUV and towards Ms. Darby and me.

I got into a defensive stance and the agent swung a fist at me and I dodged it. I brought my prosthetic hand up in a fist and connected with his right temple beneath his mask. I was surprised when the mask cracked and the agent crumpled to the ground unconscious. My surprise didn't last long as pain soon took its place. A fist had connected with my back and I stumbled forward. I turned around and faced the MECH agent that was left to deal with me while the other went after Ms. Darby. I evaded the next three attacks but then I found myself one the ground writhing in pain as electricity coursed through my body. I fought the Taser as long as I could but I eventually lost the battle.

I woke up in the back an SUV and found that my hands were zip-tied together, along with my feet at the ankles. I groaned as my muscles tensed up from the memory of the electric attack. The back door opened and I was shocked to see Silas peering down at me. "Well, well, well," he said. "What do we have hear?"

"None of your damned business." I snarled.

Silas smiled and looked down at me with an odd expression in his eyes. "I do believe that it's time we welcomed you back into the ranks of MECH, Beau." Silas said. He turned to a man next to him and said, "Cut him free."

"Yes, sir."

I was soon cut free from the zip-ties and I glared at my adoptive father. "What do you want?" I asked.

"All will be revealed in due time, Beau," Silas answered placing his hand on my shoulder. "All in due time."

**Authors Note:**

**I do not own the lyrics to "Fade to Black," or "Paranoid," those are owned by their respective bands, Metallica and Black Sabbath. **


	9. Chapter 8

_Before I begin I will give a heads up warning that there will be swearing in this chapter, usage of the f-bomb mostly. Reader Discretion is advised._

**Chapter 8**

Soon after I had been cut free and allowed to exit the vehicle, Silas led me into a large room that looked like it had been part of a factory at some point. "Where are we?" I asked.

"An old concrete factory outside of Jasper," Silas answered. "Why are you hiding your right arm?"

I glanced down and looked back at my adoptive father. I was still in the habit of wearing long sleeves and a glove on my right hand. "Injury." I said.

"How bad?"

"Bad enough." I answered narrowing my eyes. "What are you planning to do with miss Darby?"

"Use her as a tool to get what we need for MECH to thrive." Silas replied.

"And as a tool for vengeance." A voice from my nightmares replied.

_Airachnid._ I cursed. I turned around and sure enough the spider robot was there. Her purple eyes widened in shock when they saw me, "Surprised?" I asked her.

"Well, I see that you're still alive," Airachnid said approaching cautiously. "I guess that's a good thing."

"Airachnid," Silas said. "How do you know my son?"

"You're the youngling's sire?" she asked in surprise.

"Adoptive." I put in. I turned to Silas and said, "She hunted me and I escaped. She also gave me this." I pointed to the scar that spanned my face.

"I take it that was when you ran away?" Silas asked. I nodded. Silas looked at Airachnid and asked, "What else did you do to him?"

"Nothing, that was all the harm I did to your youngling," Airachnid replied. "He harmed himself."

"What?" Silas asked in confusion.

I pulled up the long sleeve and removed my glove. "I cut off my own arm to avoid being killed by her." I said my voice laced with venom. "She gave me one hour to live before she would come back and kill me, I did the only logical thing, I took my arm and I survived."

"But how?" Silas asked.

"I'm not sure, I woke up in a hospital." I lied. "The government came and said that they'd give me a prosthetic one and I agreed to it."

"Well I think that's enough of the chit chat for now, we have guests that we need to prepare for." Silas said. I frowned and Silas looked at me and clarified, "We're getting an Autobot and its human here."

"Jack, Jack Darby?" I asked in shock. "You're going to kill a kid that's a year younger than I am, just so you can get a fuckin prize!"

"Much must be sacrificed in war." Silas said coldly.

"In case you haven't noticed, the only war that is going on is the one that you fucking started!" I yelled. "Sometimes I wonder where the hell the man that adopted me has gone!"

"I'm right here, Beau." Silas said softly.

"No," I said quietly shaking my head. "No you're not. You're different and you're not the same loving man that I had come to love as my new father. Your worse than she is!" I pointed to Airachnid.

Silas sighed and motioned for men that he had to step forward. Two stepped forward and he said, "Take Beau to a separate room and guard the door. No one goes in there and he doesn't leave until I speak to him."

"Yes, sir." The two men said in unison.

"We'll talk later, Beau." Silas said.

"You bet we will." I spat.

One of the men placed his hand on my left arm and I shrugged him off. I was led through the room until we reached a hallway. I was mapping this out in my mind for when I made my escape. We took a left down the hallway and to a room that had a simple wooden door. One of the men opened the door and I was shoved in. I heard the door click and lock and I cursed. _This is going to be harder than I anticipated._ I thought.

I sat down on the floor and wished for the first time that I wasn't wearing shorts. It made it easier if I got into a fight, but the jeans offered protection from the splintered covered ground. I looked at my prosthetic and sighed, Agent Fowler had told me that it was an experimental one, what was so special about it? I never had noticed anything different. The forearm was the same size as my real one and the hand was the same size as my left as well. It functioned like a real hand and forearm did, but that was about it. I ran my hand over the prosthetic forearm and I was surprised when I found a small indent in the middle of the forearm. My forehead furrowed in confusion and I placed my thumb there. I pushed up and my thumb opened the hidden latch that had been there. My eyes widened as I saw buttons that I had never laid eyes on before, and the best part was they were labeled. There were six buttons and they were arranged in two columns and three rows. The first button on the top left read, _Gun_, underneath that read, _Knife_, the final button of that column read, _Flares_. The next column started with a button that was labeled, _Ammunition_, then _Knife 2_ and the last button was labeled, _Communications Relay (Com Unit)._

I pressed the button that was labeled _Knife 2_ and a one-foot long blade extended from the top of my wrist and above my hand. _So this is what they meant by experimental._ I pressed that button again and the blade retracted back into my forearm. I pressed _Knife_ and a double-edged knife that I estimated to be ten inches long emerged from the bottom of my forearm. I shook my head in amazement and I pressed the button again to retract the blade. I pressed _Gun _and was surprised when my hand folded in a weird way and formed a small hole where the hand should have been. I looked and saw that my index finger was on a trigger and I surmised that I was staring down the barrel of a forty-five. I pressed the button again and my hand folded back into place and formed my right hand again. I pressed the _Com Unit_ and I was disappointed that nothing transformed or changed. I held the arm towards my ear and all I heard was static. I sighed in disappointment and pressed the button. The static ended and I was left feeling better about my chances of escaping.

_Careful, Beau,_ a voice in the back of my mind whispered. _You might have to either kill someone again to get out of here alive and get Jack and his mother out of this too. Or you might have to critically injure them._

"Shut up!" I told the voice. I looked outside the barred window and saw that it was dark out. I wondered what the time was and I pounded on the door.

"Forget it Beau, we heard what you did to the last person that guarded you," a voice said. "We're not falling for that."

I rolled my eyes and yelled, "What time is it?"

"Close to eleven forty." Another voice answered.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"Dick wad." I mumbled under my breath. _Time to see what this thing can do!_ I clenched the prosthetic in a fist. I punched through the dry wall and I heard a startled cry and I pulled the prosthetic back and punched through the dry wall again.

"Beau, what are you doing?"

"Something that I should've done when I was first placed in here." I growled.

The door opened and I pressed the button that transformed my hand into a 45. I shot just as one of the guards walked in. I had been aiming low and it hit him in the thigh, away from major arteries and veins. He dropped and cursed, "Fuck that hurts!" I ran over to the fallen body and I knelt down so that I could punch him in the face with my real hand. He was now laying on the ground, unconscious, and I stood up over the limp body. I exited and dodged the Taser that was shot out from the other guard and I tackled him. I pressed the button and my prosthetic turned back to a normal looking prosthetic. I punched the guard in the face with the prosthetic and his head connected with the ground with a sickening crunch. I ran back the way I had been lead just in time to see Arcee get knocked to the ground unconscious.

"No." I whispered. "This can't be happening! This cannot be fucking happening!"

"Gentlemen." Silas said.

Two men walked towards Jack and took his cell phone and some sort of communication's device that MECH was known for. Airachnid stepped forward and knelt in front of Jack. "I'm still learning about human kind," Airachnid was saying. "But one thing was clear to me, Jack, you people care deeply about family." My eyes widened in realization, June had been the bait! "Therefore the sweetest revenge I could possibly devise would to be to make you watch as I take your family apart."

I wanted so desperately to help Jack, but I knew that helping Arcee recover would be the only way to help him. _I might have to kill again,_ I thought with dread. I closed my eyes and heard Jack reply, "If you hurt my mother I…"

"You remember how much I enjoy sport, don't you Jack?" Airachnid asked. "So, I'll give you an opportunity to save your mother. I've stashed her close by. If you do rescue her before the stroke of twelve, I will let both of you go unharmed. Deal?"

"And if I can't?" Jack asked.

"What do you think?" Airachnid asked.

Jack ran to Silas and pleaded with him, I didn't catch the words Jack used. My blood boiled when I saw Silas shove Jack to the ground. Jack stood up and ran out to search for his mother and I emerged slowly from behind a crate as Silas turned his back.

Silas seemed to be talking to himself, but I didn't catch what he was saying to himself or to those underneath him. I heard the sound of a saw starting and my heart went faster, they were going to kill Arcee! "Make haste, gentlemen! Don't worry about making a mess." Silas said.

The two soldiers finished removing the webbing and that's when I made my move. I yelled and tackled the one on the left and knocked him out with a solid punch to the temple. "We only have time to take one part." Silas said turning around. The other soldier brought the drill towards Arcee's chest and I stood up only to find myself restrained by Silas, "Don't do this, son." He said.

"You. Are. Not. My. Father!" I yelled head-butting him. Silas let go of me just as Arcee woke up and took care of the soldiers. Two started firing at her as she transformed and rode off in search of Jack and his mother.

"Let her go." Silas ordered. "No matter the outcome, the spoils will be ours."

"What about him?" a soldier asked as he grabbed me.

"Keep him here with me." Silas said.

"Of course, sir." The man said shoving me towards Silas.

"I can't believe you!" I yelled in his face. "You'd let to innocents die for something that you cannot possibly hope to comprehend! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Beau, calm down," Silas ordered. "There is much you don't understand."

"Like hell there is." I retorted crossing my arms and turning away from him. I would not watch what was going to give him the perverse pleasure of a robot slugfest. Everything was silent for a couple of minutes until the sound of helicopter's firing was heard.

"How did they find us?" Silas asked.

I turned around to face him and saw the look of shock on his face. I smirked; Jack must've stolen his radio or communicator to contact Fowler. Smart kid. Silas watched the video feed of Airachnid scanning one of the helicopters and then transforming and taking off. "So, that's how it's done." he said with a pleased tone pausing it. "Time to go, move out."

"Yes, sir." All of the soldiers said.

I remained as the others walked away and I think Silas finally noticed I wasn't by his side. "Beau! Come along." Silas said.

I shook my head and said, "Sorry dad, that's not happening."

"What?" Silas asked in shock.

I looked my adoptive father, a man whom I loved in the eye and said, "I'm not coming with. You've changed and not for the better. I cannot be a part of something like this anymore. I need to get out of this."

"Beau…" Silas said.

"Why do you think I left MECH the first time?" I demanded. "I left because I couldn't stand seeing you go down a path that I will not follow. It hurts me to do this to you, but I have to stop you from harming others."

"You're abandoning us? Just like that?" Silas asked getting angry.

"Yes," I said feeling oddly calm. "I am."

"Sir, we need to go," a soldier said. "The agency could come through these walls and take us any minute now."

Silas nodded and signaled for his soldiers to move out. "We'll meet again, son," he said.

"No doubt on opposite sides of the battle line." I said watching the pained expression cross Silas' face.

My father turned and left, following the soldiers that I now felt were following him blindly. I walked out of the front door only to have my chest get pointed at with a lot of red lasers. "Scrap."

"Beau?" Agent Fowler asked in surprise.

"Sup?" I called back to the man that was walking towards me.

"Lower your weapons, that's an order!" Fowler said.

The red dots disappeared and I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks."

"What are you doing here?" Agent Fowler asked when he reached me.

I scratched the back of my head and then told him everything that had transpired; how I saw Ms. Darby getting abducted, how I stepped in and tried to help and how that led to me getting brought to this place along with her. I then told him of how I found the panel hidden under a plate in my forearm. I told him of how I broke out of the room I had been imprisoned in and then how I had come to be in that main room. I finished and Agent Fowler whistled. "That's all I got." I lied, leaving out the part of the argument between Silas and me.

"Do you have any idea where they could've gone?" Agent Fowler asked.

"Who?"

"MECH."

I inwardly cringed and shook my head. "Sorry, Agent Fowler, but I can't help you there." I said.

"Let's get ya home, kid."

"I can find my own way." I said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I need to mull some things over." I turned and started running towards the gateway to the factory. I ran until I came to an intersection that I didn't recognize and I frowned. I heard the sound of a motorcycle behind be and I turned around.

I lifted my hand to shield my eyes from the headlights and when the motorcycle stopped I heard a familiar voice, "Don't you ever do that to me again, kid!"

"Flare?" I asked.

A snort. "Who else?"

I laughed and lowered my hand. "Sorry about that, but Miss Darby was being abducted."

"And you decided to be a hero and help out," Flare said. "Look where that got ya."

I cringed and sighed in defeat. "Yeah, yeah, I know," I said. "I'm sorry, Flare, I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to help out."

"I know, get on, I'm taking you home." Flare said softly.

I mounted Flare and she took me home. The garage door opened and I looked down at Flare curiously. We pulled into the garage and the door closed. "Let me guess, you hacked into the system and learned to operate it yourself?" I asked.

Flare chuckled and replied, "Yeah, I did. It makes it easier for me to come and go if I need to."

I nodded and said, "Night, Flare, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Have a nice recharge." Flare replied.

"I'll do my best," I said with a slight smile. "You have a nice one yourself." I opened the door and didn't wait for her reply.

I went straight to my room and got into some new shorts that I could sleep in. I climbed into bed and my last conscious thought was,_ What a long ass day._


	10. Chapter 9

_I would like to thank my loyal reviewers before I begin. I appreciate the comments, they make my day and they make me want to continue writing. I would like to thank Savvy Orion childofcommander for the favorite of this story._

**Chapter 9**

I was in the sparring room fighting Flare's holoform and she was one of the toughest opponents that I had ever faced if not the toughest. I had bruises from my mistakes and I found out that Flare was a patient teacher. She always made sure that if I made a mistake that I would pay with it. After I had been kidnapped by MECH, Agent Fowler had petitioned for me to get into his agency and General Bryce had begrudgingly agreed to let me in. I was already very well trained in tactics and how to use a gun and grenade. Hand to hand combat was good, but I was getting my ass kicked. I took a step back from where I was standing in the ring and shook my head to clear my eyes.

"Had enough?" Flare asked.

"No," I answered. "Not yet."

"Good, because I have another two hours with you in here today." Flare said.

I smiled and settled into a stance that Flare had showed me a couple of days ago. It was a crouch with my left hand in a fist and elbow perpendicular to the ground and my right hand had the fingers pressed together and my elbow parallel to the ground. This was a different style than I was used to, due to the fact I had been trained in Muay Thai. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out as I advanced towards Flare. Flare let out a snap-kick towards my head and I blocked it with my right hand. I retaliated with an elbow strike, and Flare evaded the blow. She counterattacked with a palm strike to my stomach and it found its mark. I grunted as I was forced back a couple of steps. I blocked the next three strikes from Flare and finally got a punch in. Flare looked surprised that I had been able to do that and I pressed my advantage. I performed a roundhouse kick and she caught my leg, I used the momentum from the roundhouse to kick her in the face with my other leg. It worked and she dropped my leg in shock. I performed a butterfly kick and caught Flare in the ribs before she was able to recover with scarily quick reflexes. She pounded me in the chest three times in quick succession and then a quick blow to the side of the head. I reeled back and Flare respected that. I spat and saw that blood came with it. "Nice hits." I said.

"You're not doing to shabby yourself." Flare said.

"How can you move that quickly?" I asked.

"I've had over a millennia to train and sharpen my reflexes, you've had only what fifteen years of your seventeen?"

"True." I said.

"That was a nice kick that you delivered to my ribs, kid."

"I think that it was a lucky shot," I said. "Against you Cybertronians I'm no match, but against my own kind I believe that I would have a high success rate."

"We're done for the day," Flare said. "You look exhausted, kid. Have you even been sleeping?"

I looked at my guardian sheepishly and shook my head. "No, I haven't."

"Really, Beau! We've talked about this!" Flare exclaimed exasperated placing her hands on her hips.

"I know, I know," I said trying to placate her. "It's just that I need to find him before he does something that he'll regret."

"Face it, Beau, the man that you knew is no longer there," Flare said. "He was willing to kill Jack and June to get Arcee!"

"I know," I sighed. "Part of me hopes that there is something of him left."

"I know how you feel, kid," Flare said. "I had a brother that defected to the Decepticons."

I looked up and into Flare's sad eyes. "Really?" I asked softly. Flare nodded. "What happened?"

"I was forced to kill him before he could harm any more innocent people." Flare said in a pained voice.

I closed my eyes and cursed myself. "Damn it, I'm so sorry Flare." I tried to apologize.

"It's alright, you didn't know." Flare said. "You should put a shirt back on and then I'll take you back to your place so that you can shower."

I nodded and exited the ring. I headed over to a bench where I had placed a water bottle and a tee shirt. I took a long draught from the water bottle and then put the shirt on. My jaw hurt from where Flare's last strike had caught me, but I knew that it would be better by the next morning. I followed Flare out to the main room and Flare transformed into her golden motorcycle vehicle mode. I mounted and I didn't care that I was wearing shorts and a tee shirt. I tapped her gas tank to signal that I was ready and I gripped the handlebars as Flare took off out of the tunnel.

The ride back to my house was uneventful, just the way I liked it. I got inside of my house and gathered clothing for a shower. I took a shower and then shut everything off. I got out and dried myself of. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and I grimaced. My torso was entirely covered in bruises and cuts from Flare's attacks. I shook my head in dismay. This had been my fault though; I had asked Flare to teach me some Cybertronian techniques. I put on my new clothes that Fowler had gotten me; a new pair of jeans, a black tee shirt with a silver star on it, and a special sleeve that would blend in with my skin when I put it on my prosthetic. I slipped the sleeve over my prosthetic and it matched my olive colored skin tone perfectly. The prosthetic wasn't limited in movement, which I highly appreciated, and it meant that I wouldn't have to wear long sleeves anymore to hide the prosthetic arm. I put on the clothing and then exited the bathroom. There was a knock on my door and I cautiously looked out through the peephole. I saw that it was Ms. Darby and I opened the door.

"Hello, Beau." Ms. Darby greeted me.

"Good afternoon, miss Darby." I said respectfully. "What can I help you with?"

"I guess that I never had a proper chance to thank you for attempting to rescue me from MECH." Ms. Darby said. "I'd just like to thank you now."

"There's no need to thank me, miss Darby," I said. "I didn't want my fa… I mean Silas to get Arcee."

Ms. Darby narrowed her eyes for a split second when I slipped and then the suspicion went away. "I don't care what you say, but I would like you to come over for dinner tonight," she said. "And I'm not taking no for an answer, either."

I sighed and shook my head in amusement. "What time do you require that I be there?" I asked.

"Hmm, I think that six thirty should be a decent time, don't you?"

"Sounds good to me." I said.

"I'll see you later, Beau."

"How do you know who I am?" I asked before Ms. Darby could walk away.

"Arcee and Jack told me."

"Oh, that'd make some sense."  
"See you later."  
"See ya." I said closing the front door. I went into my living room and sat down on the couch and placed my face in my hands. _She reminds me so much of my own mother._

**18:25 the same night…**

I was standing outside of the Darby household and took a deep breath. I raised my left hand and knocked on the door. The door opened and Jack was standing there. "Hey, Beau," he greeted me.

"Hey, Jack." I said.

"Come on in, you're earlier than mom and I expected."

Jack stepped aside and let me through the door. I inspected the house around me and was amazed at how similar it looked to my own house, although with a motherly and family touch to it. Jack led me into the living room and I sat down on the couch. "Can I get you anything?"

"I'm fine for now, thanks." I said politely.

"Alright, I'll come and get you when dinner is ready." Jack said.

"Sounds good." I said looking around the room. I had been sitting down for probably close to five minutes or so when Jack came back and beckoned me to follow him. I stood up and stiffly walked with him into the dining room.

"You alright, Beau?" Jack asked looking at me. "You seem a bit stiff."

"I'm fine," I said. "I sparred with Flare today."

"How did that go?"  
"I got my aft kicked." I said lightly.

On the dinner table was a home cooked meal, something that I had not seen in what seemed like forever. My mouth started to water in anticipation and I was led to a chair that was opposite of Jack's, but next to his mother's. I sat down and looked down at what was dished onto my plate. It was a good slice of meatloaf, a heap of mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy over the meatloaf and potatoes, and some raw carrots on the side. In front of the plate was a sixteen-ounce glass of milk, probably one or two percent, and silverware on the sides of the plate. "Thank you for the meal, I haven't had a home cooked meal in almost five months." I said looking into Ms. Darby's eyes.

"You live alone?" Ms. Darby asked surprised.

I nodded my answer and then said, "Yeah, I have since the start of the school year. My adoptive father isn't the nicest guy around."

"Have I met him?" Ms. Darby asked.

I swallowed and cast a sideways glance at Jack. "It's a possibility." I answered.

"Beau, how's the job training going?" Jack asked changing the subject.

I breathed an inner sigh of relief and replied, "It's going well, I have one more day left before I start officially."

"What's your job?" Ms. Darby asked.

I closed my eyes briefly and opened them. I glanced at Jack and he sort of shrugged. "I'm working with Special Agent William Fowler," I answered. "That's my job."

"You're too young! I'm going to have a talk with that man!" Ms. Darby exclaimed angrily.

"Mom!"

"I've been through a lot, Miss Darby," I said. "Some of it I don't want to discuss with you at the moment, it's a possibility later but not now. They allowed me into the agency and for that I have something to be grateful for and something to strive for." Ms. Darby opened her mouth to interject, but I raised my right hand and silenced her politely. "If my mother were still alive, I bet that she would have agreed with you, Miss Darby. I know of the Autobots, I have one that lives in my garage watching over me just as you and Jack do. I know about MECH, though I wish I didn't."

"I'll drop it for now, but I will still be making my feelings known to Agent Fowler." Ms. Darby said.

"I understand," I said bowing my head.

We started to eat and the meal was in silence. I finished my meal last and I cleaned up the table despite Ms. Darby's protests. "It's the least I can do after you cooked me this magnificent dinner." I had told her.

An hour later, I was about to leave when my phone vibrated. It started to vibrate constantly and I pulled it out and answered the phone, "Hello?"

"Your assignment has been moved up," a mechanical sounding voice replied. "You'll be departing with a strike team to a MECH base that we have found in the middle of the Canadian Shield."

"Okay, thanks for calling." I said.

"We'll be picking you up tomorrow at o-five hundred."

"Alright."

The line went dead.

I let out a sigh and I put my phone back in my pocket. "Is everything alright, Beau?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, my assignment was just changed, that's all." I replied.

"Oh," Jack said as I walked out of the door. "Well I wish you good luck."

"Thanks." I said extending my prosthetic hand. Jack shook it and I pulled him in close and whispered, "If I don't come back from this mission, there's a note that I wrote to explain everything to your mother about my past. Also, if I don't come back there's a something I want you to do for me…don't mourn me." I let Jack go and walked away and headed home.

I entered in through the garage door and saw Flare was sitting there in her vehicle mode. I closed the door and sat down on the floor in front of the door. "Hey, Flare." I greeted.

Flare transformed and sat cross-legged across from me. "Optimus contacted me and informed me that your assignment has been changed to tomorrow," she said.

"Yeah," I said leaning my head back against the garage door. "I'm part of a strike team that will be heading towards a newly found MECH base."

"Will you be okay?" Flare asked.

"I should be, it should just be a routine thing."

"That's not what I meant," Flare sighed.

"I know," I said closing my eyes. "I honestly don't know how I will feel."

"Just promise me that you won't do anything rash and that you'll come back to me in one piece." Flare said.

I laughed and opened my eyes. I looked at Flare and smiled, "It's me, what do you have to worry about?" I asked with a lop sided smile.

"A lot of things," Flare replied. "But promise me that you'll be safe."

"I'll do my best," I said. "I can't make any guarantees though."

Flare nodded and said, "Go and get some rest, you'll need it for tomorrow."

I stood up and headed towards the house door and stopped in the doorway. I turned around and said, "Goodnight, Flare."

Flare transformed back into her vehicle mode and replied, "Goodnight, Beau."

I entered the house and went to my bedroom. I removed my shirt and jeans before climbing onto the queen sized bed. I put my head on the pillow and closed my eyes.

**Next Morning…**

The alarm woke me up at four thirty in the morning. I groaned and shut the annoying thing off. Stretching as I stood up out of bed, I let out a big yawn. I headed to the closet and found the fatigues that I was to wear. I put on the fatigues and grabbed the black helmet from where it lay in the closet. I strapped on a holster for a .45 caliber pistol and then I holstered the pistol. I was a Private in the force if that mattered, and I knew the only reason that I was going on this mission was because I knew how MECH operated. If I had been somebody else, I wouldn't have been on this mission and I wouldn't have been in this situation. I grabbed the bulletproof vest, and brought that out of my room with me. I exited the house and sat on the steps of the house and waited for the rest of the strike team to come and pick me up to bring me to the tarmac. A military Humvee pulled up a couple of minutes later and I stood up from where I had been sitting. The door opened and I entered the Humvee. "Good morning, Private Schwarz." A grizzled looking man greeted me.

"Morning, Colonel." I greeted back.

"Do you know our objective, Private?" the Colonel asked me.

"No, sir," I answered.

"We are to capture as many MECH personnel as we can and bring them back to Hangar E for questioning. We need to storm the base in the Canadian Shield and also we have orders to shoot to kill if we feel it necessary," the Colonel answered. "The mandate could change at any time."

"Change to what, sir?"

"Kill on sight or shoot first ask questions later," another person answered.

"Silence Second Lieutenant Jackson," the Colonel ordered. "There are rumors that Silas himself is at that base, he might be our main objective if those rumors are true."

"And what will happen if he is there, sir?" Second Lieutenant Jackson asked.

"Capture or kill him," the Colonel answered darkly.

I held my breath in that entire time and let it out as we reached the outskirts of Jasper. We drove in silence for a while until a ground bridge swallowed us up and this surprised me. I looked at the Colonel quizzically and he said, "The Autobots are going to give us a ride back to Hangar E."

I nodded and looked at the familiarity of the base, with the exception of a Humvee in there. The ground bridge activated once again and the Colonel tapped the driver and told him to drive into the swirling vortex. We came out of the ground bridge right at Hangar E and were greeted by Agent Fowler. The five of us that were inside piled out and were led to a CH-47 Chinook. There were already twenty other men inside of the helicopter and I found an empty seat as the other twenty were told of our objective. I put on my vest and helmet and then I strapped myself into my seat. I couldn't help but sit up straighter when I heard the Colonel say, "And now it has been confirmed that Silas is at the base. We need to bring him in or bring him down."

"Hooah!" twenty-four voices shouted…mine included.


	11. Chapter 10

**Suggestion: **_Listen to the song "Soldiers" by Otherwise for this chapter it gave me chills. _

_Will be swearing in this chapter, read with caution, you have been warned_

**Chapter 10**

I think that I slept for the entire four hour flight, I'm not entirely sure but I'm eighty percent positive that I did. It's not that I didn't like flying; it was just that I disliked the idea that there were only a few inches of metal and a couple of thousand feet of air between me and the ground. The Chinook landed and the back door opened. I was about to get out of my seat when the Colonel stopped me. "What is it, sir?" I asked.

"Are you sure that you can go through with this mission, Private?" he asked me. "I won't have you risking the lives of my men."

"I'm positive, sir," I answered with conviction. "I need to stop him before he does something else and harms more innocent people."

"Then you'll be needing these," the Colonel said handing me an M-16 and five magazines.

"Thank you, sir." I said taking the weapon and mags. I saluted the Colonel and he saluted back. I followed him out of the chopper and looked at my surroundings. _So, this is the Canadian Shield,_ I thought. _Or at least part of it._

"Listen up, men," the Colonel commanded. "We are going to divide into two groups of eight and one group of nine. You know what group you're in by the color of your helmet, blacks are with me, greens are with Second Lieutenant Jackson, and the camos are with Captain Larson. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good, now the base is enclosed into the side of a mountain with concrete walls that are ten feet thick and ten feet high surrounding it. Green squad will approach from the south, camo squad will approach from the west, and my squad will approach from the east. From there green squad will create a diversion and camo squad will infiltrate the base while my squad provides cover fire for the two squads. We have thirteen hours to get there gentlemen, so lets get a move on!"

"Hooah!"

The area was rocky as we made our way towards the MECH base. Thirteen hours of just marching, great… this was going to be a blast. As we walked I studied the Colonel. He was an inch or two taller than I was and had a good twenty pounds on me in muscle weight. He had an M11 strapped to each thigh and he was also carrying an M4 rifle. He looked to be in his mid to late thirties and strapped on his belt was a three-scabbarded SOG throwing knives scabbard with three of the SOG knives in there. He also had a bowie knife sticking out of his left boot. This guy was practically armed to the teeth. The Colonel instilled awe amongst the men that he commanded and he was respected. He spoke with an air of authority that made a person listen whenever he spoke. He reminded me a lot of my father, Silas that is. We all were silent as we marched towards the base; it wasn't that we had nothing to say to one another it was a matter of necessity and orders. We needed to be quiet in order for us to remain focused. The sun went down below the horizon and we all switched to night vision, or infrared. We kept going until the Colonel signaled for us to stop. "Alright, listen up, men," he said softly. "We'll have a five minute rest until the other two groups arrive."

I sat down on a rock and pulled a scope out off my backpack and handed it to a sniper. He nodded his thanks and I nodded back. I did that two other times and I looked at the Colonel and saw that he was sharpening his throwing knives. I smiled and then looked down at my prosthetic. I clenched it into a fist and then unclenched it. I closed my eyes and thought, _Hopefully tonight I can end this. We can end this! Silas needs to be stopped at all costs if he's willing to hurt innocents. He's no better than a murderer!_ My eyes snapped open and I felt a renewed flame of determination to continue on with my current path.

"Time to get ready, men," the Colonel said.

The rest of us stood up, with the exception of the snipers, and joined the Colonel on an outcrop of rock that overlooked the little valley that MECH had built their base in. "We're going to attack that?" a soldier asked mystified.

I had to agree with him it looked damn near impenetrable, not to mention the turret systems that the base had. There had to be at the most five turrets and at least three. I swallowed and said, "We have to. If we don't Silas could get away and MECH could cause more havoc than they have already."

"Private Schwarz has got a point," the Colonel said. "We need to take the base and capture Silas."

"Yes, sir," the same soldier said.

"Now cut the chit chat and get ready to provide cover fire," the Colonel said. "Snipers find a good spot and stay there to provide the needed support."

"Sir, yes, sir!" the three snipers said.

Through the infrared I saw a trail of something and then cement and concrete fly through the air. _RPG,_ I surmised. That was repeated three times in the same spot. The turret systems pointed towards the source and started firing. The Colonel cursed and looked through his pack. He pulled out a laptop and opened it. He started typing and I saw that he was commanding a drone.

"Predator missile inbound," he said. "That'll send at least two of the turrets on the western side to hell." A couple of seconds later, the sound of a drone flying over was heard and then the sound of a missile coming down. There was an explosion and I saw the turrets had been obliterated; the only thing there was a smoking mess. The Colonel repeated that two more times and took care of the remaining turrets.

From our vantage point we could see the camo group heading towards the small breach in the wall that the missiles and RPG's had created. The sound of the snipers firing was heard from our group, but I didn't see any muzzles flash. I suppose that was a good thing for us and a bad thing for MECH. "They're in." the Colonel said.

I think we all breathed a sigh of relief at that point. The Colonel listened to his radio and then frowned. This wasn't good. "We need to go in, all units move in, repeat all units move into the base!" the Colonel ordered.

The Colonel led us down from the outcrop we had been on, and once we were down he told the rest of the black group to head on without him and me. He turned to me and unbuckled his throwing knives from his belt and extended them to me. "Take 'em kid," he said. "From what I've heard you can throw knives pretty good."

"Decent enough, sir," I said taking the three throwing knives. "You can move on through the base alone, I have a feeling that Silas will end up separating you from the main group anyway."

"You're just going to give him what he wants?" I asked. "Me?"

"If it means keeping you safe and keeping some of my troops alive," the Colonel said, "then yes, I am. Sending you through that base to find your father alone will also give us more time to clear the base and take captives like our original objective had called for. You can stall for time, fight your father if you have to."

"Yes, sir." I said saluting the Colonel.

"You will make an excellent soldier, kid," the Colonel said leaving me standing there.

I heard the sound of gunfire, I smelt the scent of lead and ejected cartridges, I heard the sounds of men dying and fighting. Throughout this madness, I had order. I ran towards the base and climbed the rocks surrounding the walls of the base. I got ten feet in the air and ten I jumped onto the ramparts of the base. I saw a MECH soldier raise his gun at me and I didn't hesitate. I fired the M16 purely out of instinct and the soldier fell with three shots in his chest. I moved closer and nudged him with my foot to make sure he was dead. _Better him than me._ I thought grimly.

I found my way inside of the base and I ended up ducking behind a steel column due to gunfire. _This is fantastic, just a-fucking-mazing!_ I heard the gunfire cease and I took that as my chance and I leaned out and returned fire. I took down two more soldiers and wounded another in the leg. I ran forward and hit him in the face with the stock of the M16, knocking him out. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins as more shots came towards me from my right. I felt a stinging sensation in my left bicep and I leaned back into a pillar to get some cover. I looked and saw that a bullet had grazed it and left a bloody trail in its wake. It wasn't anything serious, but it sure as hell hurt like a bitch. "Shit." I breathed out in pain. I waited until I heard the soldiers changing clips before I emerged and shot them like I had done to the others. I cautiously moved toward that direction and further into the belly of the beast.

I performed cautionary sweeps throughout the hallway until I heard a pistol hammer click back and a voice say, "That's far enough. Now, drop the gun and put your hands in the air."

I didn't click on the safety and I turned the gun so that the barrel would be facing behind me. "As you wish." I said dropping the M16. A single shot rang out and I turned around, grabbed the pistol and punched the man in the face. I turned the pistol on the soldier and shot him in the head. I closed my eyes briefly and wondered where this killer had emerged from, what hellish environment had created him and what kind of monster could I have become to kill a man in cold blood like that.

"Sorry, mate," I said putting on the safety of the Berretta and sticking that in my waistband. I bent down and picked up the M16 before moving forward. I finally came to a room where it looked like a command center of some sort, there were computers and monitors all over the room and I saw Silas standing with his hands behind his back watching the raid on the screens.

"Intruder!" a soldier yelled and I ducked behind a computer as bullets ripped through the air where I had been standing.

I held the M16 out at the corner and fired at the soldiers down in the room hoping to buy myself some time. I changed clips and started firing again. I heard soldiers approaching my position and I pulled the gun back and saw a head emerge at the top of the stairway. I fired and blood erupted from the head as the bullet connected. I changed the clip again and fired at the soldiers. "ENOUGH!" Silas' voice bellowed. The soldiers retreated and my heart was pounding frantically. "Come forward and your life will be spared, soldier!"

I checked my ammo and saw that I was down to my last clip. I quickly peered down and saw that there were ten soldiers left, and Silas. I checked the pistol ammunition and saw that I had one clip for each of those as well, and I had three throwing knives. Things didn't look good; eleven to one odds never do look good. "Empty out and give support to your fellow MECH soldiers," Silas ordered. "I'll handle this one."

"As you wish, sir," a voice said. I heard the soldiers file out of the room through another exit I was assuming and I pulled a ski mask type thing from my pack and put it on. I set the pack on the floor, along with the M16. I stood up and put the helmet back on. I saw Silas standing there, unarmed, in the middle of the room with his hands behind his back.

"Quite the diversion that your team has set up, soldier," Silas said.

I nodded not saying anything and jumped down the ten feet from the second floor to the first. I landed with a loud thud and stood up. I quickly whipped out the Berretta and the forty-five just as Silas pulled out two M9's. Silas chuckled and lowered the guns. I didn't and I kept them focused on Silas; one aimed at his head and the other at his heart. "Why don't we settle this the old fashioned way?" Silas asked holding out the pistols for me to see. They were both on safety as he dropped them to the floor.

I held out my pistols and clicked their safeties on as well. I dropped them and settled into a crouch that Flare had taught me. The crouch was one that had my right leg forward, bent at a ninety degree angle, and my left leg behind it straight out. My left hand was the lower one and the forearm was parallel to the ground while the right forearm was perpendicular to the ground. _This stance will either enable you to perform a sweeping kick with your trailing leg or jump away and regroup into a different stance._ Flare's voice said in my head.

Silas settled into a boxer's stance and advanced towards me. I turned and as I turned my left leg swept at Silas' legs. He leapt to avoid the sweep and as I rose from the stance I performed an uppercut to his abdomen. It connected and it brought him to the ground. I backed away and let him get back up as I assumed a new stance, a Muay Thai stance this time. Silas stood up and eyed me wearily. Silas advanced more carefully at me before suddenly spinning on a heel and performing a high kick at my head. I blocked it with my prosthetic and performed a kick of my own to his planting leg. The kick connected, but did nothing to faze him. Silas brought both of his fists together, like Batman does when fighting Bane in _The Dark Knight Rises_, and connected with my ribs. I stumbled back and he pressed his advantage. I jumped up and performed a kick aimed at his face, and he dodged it. I landed and blocked the fist flying towards my face. I however didn't block the one that got me in the stomach. It was followed up with a vicious knee to the gut and then a hook to the face as I was doubled over. I collapsed onto the ground and looked Silas in the eyes. "I admit, you've got spirit," Silas said. "Too bad you aren't on the winning side."

I removed my ripped mask and watched Silas' shocked reaction. "I'm pretty sure that I've got a good side to be on," I said standing up. I spit out blood and looked at my adoptive father. "Like I've told you on our previous encounter, I left MECH for a reason."

Leaving no time for Silas to reply, I charged him and tackled him with a form that a football coach would have been proud of. Silas grunted as we hit the floor and I managed to get him into a shoulder-triangle hold. I pressed on his left shoulder as I pulled back and he eventually found a way to get out of it. We struggled on the ground back and forth, each trying to get the other in a solid submission hold. We both gave up on that idea and stood up panting, facing one another. I was pleased to see that Silas was sporting a bloody lip and the beginnings of a black eye over his left eye. I couldn't imagine how bad I looked though. The important thing was that I was holding my own. The base shook as we circled each other and I heard the sound of gunfire in the hallway. "Surrender, Silas," I said. "Don't make this any messier than it already is."

"Good try son," Silas said charging at me.

I sighed and unsheathed a throwing knife. I sidestepped the charge and switched grip quickly and stabbed downwards. Silas blocked my left arm with his forearm and he looked shocked that I had the audacity to pull a knife on him. I pulled backward and twirled the knife so that I was now holding it by the blade. I threw it and I got Silas in the left thigh.

I pulled another knife out as the sounds of gunfire ceased, and I turned briefly to look behind me and that turned out to be a mistake as I felt an immense pain in my stomach. I looked down and saw the throwing knife embedded in my gut. I looked at Silas in shock and stumbled backwards. Even Silas looked shocked. The rest of my company came into the command room as I fell onto my knees and they raised their guns at Silas. "You son of a bitch," I whispered looking at Silas. "I can't believe you'd do that when I wasn't looking!"

"I'm so sorry, Beau!" Silas said approaching me. A warning shot was fired at his feet and he backed up.

I managed to stand up and I looked my adoptive father in the eye. "I didn't want to believe everything that they told me about you," I said. "But now it seems that this is proof that you'd rather kill your adopted son than surrender."

"Beau…" Silas tried.

"Fuck you." I said throwing the knife I held in my hand as hard as I could. It embedded itself into Silas' stomach and then I collapsed back onto my knees. My vision started to go blurry and then it went black. _Sorry, Flare,_ I thought, _I guess I couldn't keep my promise after all._


End file.
